


A New Path

by Neomewo



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Hokage Hatake Kakashi, Minor Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, Post-Chapter 700 (Naruto), Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:22:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 27,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23629180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neomewo/pseuds/Neomewo
Summary: Madara has appeared again after the fourth great ninja war, this time it’s Sakura’s turn to capture him before he tries to start any disaster with the new peace created amongst the nations.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Madara
Comments: 10
Kudos: 47





	1. Chapter 1

The rogue ninja spotted a young female ninja collapsed on the floor, as he took a closer look, he noticed her headband symbol, she was from the hidden leaf, a very respected nation. He sighed, little did it matter to him, but the way he was raised, he did not want to leave her there, unattended.

Carefully, he carried her and took her to an old cabin he used to sleep there during missions. No one ever went there, it was dull and old, but it was better than being on the cold ground, with potential exposure of enemies.

He took one last glance at the young lady, maybe it was her innocent look that made him feel guilty. With that, he headed out, not looking back once, focusing on his current mission.

\---------- 

Madara sprinted slower and slower, his chakra was running out, and it was getting too cold for him to continue, and his burns did not help him have more movement. He looked down, seeing a cabin rusted and old. He hesitated but perhaps, it would be empty, and if whoever was there, was sure they were weaker than him. He stopped in front of the cabin, no lights were transparent, the windows were old, with mold and cracked. Madara took a closer step, pushing the front door, carefully peeking inside. It was too dark, but by far warmer than outside. He took a step in looking carefully. It seemed it was abandoned, he took a quick look outside once more, making sure no one was on his tail. He closed the door, seeing nothing but darkness, and the breath he exhaled, mixing with the cold atmosphere. Madara walked closer to the window, the only light provided for him to see around. As he got closer, he looked to the left side of the window, a bed, with a young lady laying there. He glanced at her, as he studied her attire, he realized she was a ninja, some kind of clan symbol was imprinted on her back, as his eyes roamed around her, he noticed a bag attached behind her back. By now, he was sure she was a ninja too, but his ego was filled to the top, of course she wouldn’t be able to fight him, he took out a kunai, ready to stab her on a vital organ. He knew he was not in his best state, but any sort of threat could be a hassle for him. He gave one last glance at the female ninja, her pink hair was hiding her bandana, he focused on the symbol hiding behind her hair, his eyes widened, it was the hidden leaf symbol. Madara felt rage, recalling of Hashirama, of that corrupted village. This gave him more motivation to slaughter the girl. He looked back down at her bag, perhaps she would have some kind of healing ointment for his burns. He steadily took off the bag, putting his kunai down for a second to investigate what she could be useful for. From the symbol he saw on her back, she was no Uchiha, only his kind would he think would be suitable for him. Madara dug in her bag, finding multiple weapons, but also needles, food pills, many bandages, and more medical supplies.

_A medical ninja?_

__

He stared down at the items inside the bag, the burns on his arms and back, stung, he had not been this badly injured in such a long time. He never felt doubt in his decision making, until now. As much as he wanted to get rid of any potential threat, he also needed help getting healed. The random ninja that attacked him, he found unnecessary. How dare they go against him? He was so well respected, and suddenly he was now a target for any ninja that got in his way.

He sighed, he felt weak, and more that he was even considering this girl of Konoha to help him. As soon as she helped, with a bit of threatening, it would do the trick, then kill her if need be. The only people he ever cared for were the Uchiha, and himself.

\----------

Sakura fluttered her eyes, as she regained consciousness, it was cold, dusty, and felt her body ache in pain. Her pupils looked around, it looked to be a small room, as she tried to get up, she felt a strike of pain hit her head, as if she hit it really hard.

She sat down, rubbing the temples of her head, she looked over the window checking to see her surroundings. Sakura studied the outside, it seemed she was deep within a forest, the trees could hardly pass any sort of light from the sky, or was it night? She felt more nervous, not knowing even the time, if it was day or night, where she was and who put her here. Her last memories came swiftly, she recalled taking a trip to Land of Waves, giving aid to children, and looking for more information on their economy. She was researching to create her own clinic, reaching out far to the most needed land of waves, who struggled on medical needs. But how did she end up here?

As Sakura went into deep thought, trying to recall her last memory, she heard a swift movement. Her eyes shot up, immediately trying to get a hold of a kunai. She gasped, looking down, she no longer had her bag of supplies. She was sure someone had now put her here, with potential danger.

Looking around, she spotted a black figure in front of the door. Her body tensed up; someone had been here this whole time while she was unconscious. Confused yet angered, she had to keep her head up high, calmed like she had always practiced.

“Who are you?” she asked confidently.

The number one rule she learned to never break, stay confident, never lose your cool. Her younger self taught her a very valuable lesson, that she now will never be like how she was before.

The figure turned, revealing only but his eyes, only the bright red was visible to Sakura. Her train of thought froze, as she stared directly at his eyes, he had the sharingan. 

“Sasuke?” she whispered.

She quickly shook that thought, it couldn’t be Sasuke, he wouldn’t take her bag away from her, he would at least show himself immediately or at least leave her in a much better place than this.

The figure stepped forward, allowing Sakura to have a better view of him. Sakura’s eyes widened, she couldn’t believe it, Madara stood in front of her again.

“Madara Uchiha…” she whispered.

His eyes looked surprised, seeing the girls sudden confident fade away, that brought more power to him.

“I thought you were…. I saw you vanish with my own eyes.” She continued, trying to hold on to herself.

Madara glared at her.

_Vanish?_

“What do you mean vanish?” he flinched at the thought of dying, after all the plans he’s had, he couldn’t possibly leave this world, without completing his goals.

Sakura gulped, she recalled the time he was six paths mode, he did not hesitate to kill her, but she didn’t either. She calmed herself down, bringing back her confidence. She had gone so far, she was capable of defending herself. On top of that, the Madara standing before her was not as powerful as she once fought him, that was to her advantage, but he also looked fairly young, when Hashirama and Madara created the hidden leaf.

“You don’t remember?” she asked, as she got up, she felt fatigue, but still capable of throwing her monstrous hits.

“Clearly I don’t little girl.” He sounded annoyed.

“Madara, how old are you?” Sakura slowly began to put the pieces together, he looked much younger, little remembrance of what happened in the Fourth Great Ninja War.

“I’m 28, what does that have to do with anything?” Madara questioned.

“That’s impossible, you’re way ahead of your time.” She looked down confused, could this be another plan he had set up, to do his infinite Tsukuyomi?

Madara looked at her confused, he slowly recalled all the ninjas who attacked him, they all looked so different, so many symbols and clans he had seen he had no recollection of.

“Who is the current Hokage?” Madara asked, knowing he would hate the answer.

“Kakashi Hatake.” She answered.

Madara for once looked shocked, who was this Kakashi?

“Madara, you’re not from this time zone, I don’t know how you got here, but I’m pretty sure why you’re here!” she looked back up, this time with anger, so much anger against this man. The millions she had to heal, the thousand she couldn’t save, was all because of what he started.

“I know Naruto and Hashirama changed your heart at the end, but I know this current you wouldn’t comprehend.”

Without thinking Madara dashed to her, stabbing her right in the stomach, she flinched, feeling her warm blood pour down her stomach.

“How dare you say such a thing, Hashirama will never change anything about me.”

Sakura looked deep into his eyes, hatred and loathing, full of darkness, similar to what once Sasuke had, she felt pity, broken and sad at what the Uchiha went through.

“How do you know so much about me, you brat!?” he growled, yelling at her ear.

Sakura filled her fist with chakra, hitting Madara’s gut, he hunched over, feeling the pain go beyond he could imagined. The burns stretched, he groaned in pain, taking a few steps back.

“I thought you were a medical nin…” he was out of breath; he didn’t think such child would have such strength.

“Don’t assume we only heal; we must also be the strongest to protect ourselves to be the last to survive.” Sakura was about to go for another blow, when suddenly a loud rumbling sound was heard. Both Madara and Sakura felt the ground shake, this felt like an earthquake. They both got up, and quickly dashed out, breaking the old glass.

Sakura looked behind her where the cabin was, there was a mountain not so far ahead, breaking down, burying the place she was not too long ago. She quickly looked around, trying to spot Madara. She couldn’t let him escape, this was the only chance to capture him, of course she noticed the wounds on his hands, he was at his weakest state.

She suddenly saw a flash of black past by her, with all the strength she followed him.

“I know you’re following me, girl.” His voice rumbled through the forest.

Suddenly he stopped on top of a tree, allowing Sakura to stop on the tree next to him.

Each one giving an intense glare, Sakura panted, noticing Madara also losing his energy.

“Well then, we will brawl here.” He erected his body, standing tall, Sakura felt intimidated, but little did she show it.

_I didn’t train and push myself just to run away, not anymore._


	2. Chapter 2

Sakura's heart pounded as she felt her adrenaline rush through her muscles. 

_Don't let him win!_

Sakura was surprised at her self for making the first move, as she swung her fist leaping to the tree he was on. Madara witnessed the rage in the eyes, her passion burned right thorough him as he dodged her first blow. No one could match the speed of his eyes, she was far too slow throwing her punches. Sakura gritted her teeth, noticing how slow she was compared to an Uchiha. That didn't stop her however, she recalled the millions of bodies dropping one before another during the treacherous war. Even though Hashirama and Naruto changed him at the last second, it was still no excuse for the lives he took. 

"How dare you to keep appearing here, you've done enough damage!" she yelled, hitting every other thing but him. 

Even though Madara's eye were keeping up with her, his body was not, he grew more tired as he felt the burns of his skin stretch every time he forced to move them. He also tried to use his sharingan to manipulate the little brat, but she knew too well of his blind spots and where not to look. Sakura's training with Kakashi and Sasuke paid off, she was able to withstand a sharingan user due to her teacher and teammate. 

"Great Fire annihilation!" he roared, as he spat fire towards her, hoping this would slow her down.

Sakura hesitated to go closer.

 _I know I can't beat him with just strength, making a clone behind him while he creates his fire jutsu could go into my favor, but I only have a split second for this, I need him to do it again._

"Ahhhhh!!!" Sakura decided to run right at his fire, feeling the ache of second degree burns.

A very risky and reckless tactic but she couldn't think of anything else, this was her only hope to convince him she was weak to fire. Madara smirked, knowing no one could escape his fire, but his pride got the better of him. Sakura sprinted back into full action, reminding Madara she was not just any regular ninja, she was now much stronger than the sannin and she would make sure she reminded him. Madara fell behind, noticing her punches became more brutal, and speeding herself up. Madara was no fool to use the same jutsu twice, but his eyes did no justice, his physic was on his limit, he grew tired each second. At last he threw a fire ball at her, she was unable to dodge as he saw her burn before his eyes he felt relieved, but before he could even take a breath, he suddenly felt a presense right behind him. Due to his burns he wasn't quick enough, cursing himself for not having enough time, he felt her hit, rupturing his rib cage as a sharp pain struck right on his gut. Madara hit a boulder, causing a crater on his landing. Sakura fell down in her knees, taking deep breaths feeling exhausted. She slowly raised her hand and began to heel her whole left arm, full of burns that kept stinging. She could rarely move her left arm, but little did she care about it now, she was just glad she had somehow stopped him. 

\----------

Madara felt his body ache as he slowly opened his eyes, unaware of his surroundings, unable to recall the last few hours, but before he could try he felt his every wound in his body sting.

"Arrghh!!!" he screamed in agonizing pain, a sharp pain went right through his chest, this pain slowly recalled Sakura, who knocked him out on her last blow. He tried to squirming around, only to find himself tied to a trunk of a tree. This pissed him off even more, how could this insignificant brat do all of this?

Sakura was not far ahead, hearing his screams she looks over to him, he had finally awoken, and was time for her to interrogate him.

"Don't move or it will be more painful." she ordered as she got closer, taking a look at his stomach.

Sakura had healed him for a bit but it wasn't enough for him to feel at ease, she pressed down on his left side of his rib cage, with that action a loud roar came out of him, trying hard to move away from her. Her hands glowed, closing her eyes trying to focus on his internal damage.

"Get off of me!" he demanded.

If only Sakura could finish him off, but he was crucial evidence for more forbidden jutsu's the Leaf still had no clue on. 

"I'm trying to heal you." she responded.

He clenched his eyes, cursing every word he could think of.

_How could she beat me?! I am Madara Uchiha!_

For a while he began to calm down, Sakura was able to numb the pain for a bit, as she removed her hand from his stomach, she finally looked up at him. He was slouching down, not bothering to see her, but his face was still filled with anger.

"You're a fool, you could of killed me instead but you're healing me, what is your plan?' he muttered. 

"No, at least not yet," she answered getting up. " I still need to know how you reanimated yourself." 

Sakura looked down in disbelief, just when she thought the world could go back in peace, she thought Sasuke could of easily catch this but Madara always had something new up his sleeves, such an unpredictable man. 

"What are you talking about you?" he protested. 

"I told you already, you were suppose to be gone when the war ended, I saw you die right before my eyes."

"Listen you brat, if only I hadn't fought another battle before this one, you'd be gone."

Sakura gulped, as much as she hated to admit it, he was right. From the very beginning he was wounded and exhausted, she was only able to stop him due to his circumstances.

"I know." she felt her confidence fade, recalling the many times people saved her, even if she was able to tell Kakashi she took him down herself, it was never fair to begin with.

Madara lifted his head up, she clearly lacked confidence and he could smell it. 

"Stop dodging the question," Sakura continued. "how did you get here?”

"For the millionth time, you idiot little girl, I don't know! I have no clue what or how I got here." he began to grow annoyed.

"Then where did you come from?" 

Madara glared at her, he recalled waking up in a cave, unaware of where he was or what he was doing, he figured he just took too long of a nap and decided to try and head back to his Uchiha residence. 

"I was sleeping in a cave," he responded. "with no recollection of anything."

Sakura looked down as if looking for an answer in the dirt, she began to believe Madara truly knew nothing about the past disastrous events he created. If he really knew what he was doing, he wouldn't be reckless as to start fights with ninja around here, the burned wounds was evidence enough.

"What's your next bright idea?" he said in a mocking tone. "You can't keep me here forever."

Sakura felt her nerves get to her, how was she going to take him back to Konoha without a fight? She only got lucky this time, but as he recovers he'll be able to do much more damage. 

"Madara, what will you do then?" she asked, with an idea in mind.

"I'm going back with the Uchiha." 

"The Uchiha are all gone." she sighed, knowing full well she would have to explain everything.

"What the hell do you mean the Uchiha are gone?" he growled.

"I know it all sounds insane, but I'll explain."

Madara tried to talk over her but she wouldn't allow it, Sakura knew exactly how Sasuke got because of all this. Years or training to talk to patients who had to hear traumatic news, she easied it on Madara, not skipping details about Danzo, and what Itachi had to do. as they sat there, Madara at first tried his hardest to ignore her words, only rage and vengeance was in his heart. Hearing detail of everything, forced to sit and listen was difficult to block. Even if this Itachi she spoke of and now Naruto he couldn't bring himself to just accept these things. What Sakura thought she could explain and change his heart, did the complete opposite, he was back to wanting to revolutionize this place, but how could he when he had no idea how to start. As Sakura's words finally ceased, he stayed quiet. Of course he was a stubborn man, not going to settle for how Sasuke stayed, he was no true Uchiha. As much as he wanted to rage at her, he had to keep his cool, perhaps he'd just had to act his part, understand and let her lead the way to Konoha, soon he'd get his vengeance. One thing he was able to do even before his confusion, is be patient. 

"So there's no Uchiha left, besides this Sasuke you speak of?" 

"Yes." she replied, looking quite hopeful he was a lot more calmer. 

"I need to speak with this new Hokage of yours, Kakashi Hatake you said?" 

"Yes, but only if you stay under my orders,”

“Your orders!? I have never been under any brats eye, and I don’t plan to start now.” He replied.

”How else can I know you won’t betray me?” She knew Madara was far too prideful, even in his early life.

” We are equals. I’m no less than you.” He responded.

”fine, then you will accompany me to Konoha, If I catch any sketchy moves from you, I won’t heal you, and I’ll make sure to break a leg next time.” 

Madara stayed quiet, finally nodding, still with that devious plan behind his head. Sakura sighed in relief, finally she had convinced him and this would run a lot smoother than she imagined.


	3. Chapter 3

The day was going into a halt, as the moon became more present and the stars were beginning to appear, the two ninja had traveled for quite some time in the forest, and both were quite annoyed of each other. Because of Madara's injuries, Sakura had to lend him her shoulder, he still couldn't' bare the pain, Sakura almost felt bad, but this was the only way he'd come with her. They were both silent since the incident, avoiding eye contact and having absolutely no interaction. Sakura felt awkward, but she had done this in previous missions, she had to travel with particular people she had no interest in, but never had it been this awkward. This silence also gave them both enough time to think. As Sakura thought on how to pass by villages with a known enemy who had already died, Madara was thinking of how to deestroy this new Hokage, Kakashi. He was sure he could manage to at least kill him by himself, but the trouble would be constant people around him. He was also interested on this Sasuke Sakura kept mentioning, if he was a true Uchiha, then he would at least acknowledge him, he after all was by far the strongest Uchiha to ever live, or so he thought. 

"Madara," Sakura startled him as she went to a stop. "We need to rest, traveling at night here is too dangerous."

"Too dangerous? Did we not battle in the middle of the night for hours? We made more raucous yet no one came to check on us." he was frustrated on how weak and scared she was, still unable to understand how she was able to stop him.

"That's because we were stationed in one spot, battling, of course if they see what we are doing they won't want to interfere, it's when we are calm and more vulnerable." 

"We were vulnerable before, I don't see why we can't keep going." 

Sakura felt frustrated, how was he so stubborn, so full of himself? She wanted to rest, she wanted to relax so when the sun came out, they could run, instead of having to walk. Maybe she was just scared of passing by a village with Madara and was stalling. She didn't want to have to explain to everybody everything, this was something she wanted to hide as much as possible, or the whole world would cause a scene.

"I think it's necessary for us to rest so we can go faster in the morning." she replied, letting go of Madara, she wasn't going to give in to his stubbornness. 

"Hmph, I'll take this extra time to heal then." he commented, as he sat down slowly, flinching at the pain on his stomach.

"I'll keep watch, in case anyone comes nearby." Sakura commented, as about to walk away.

"You? "Madara mocked her, "I'm perfectly fine taking care of my own."

Sakura rolled her eyes, as she felt herself getting a migrane.

_I don't think I can handle him for more than a day._

Sakura sprinted towards the top of a tree, sat on a branch in order to get a better view around them. 

_Fine, I'm not going to bother to check on you._

Sakura leaned on the trunk of the tree, closing her eyes, she couldn't believe how unlucky she was to be the first to spot him. Why did he have to come back? Why did it have to be her, a medical nin who's the least experienced on getting a hostage. Why couldn't Sasuke be here to help, settle him down with his genjutsu and able to stop him with his rinnegan. Sakura shot her eyes open, recalling Sasuke's hawk. He had given her and Naruto a scroll, they were the only ones who were able to summon his hawk and send Sasuke a message in case of an emergency. Sakura rarely tried to do this, she felt like a bother and didn't want to disturb Sasuke who had more important matters to deal with. She quickly took out the scroll from her back pocket, studying it, she felt hesitation. That little voice inside her head didn't want to tell him, she wanted to be the one to bring Madara back. As much as Naruto and Kakashi showered her with compliments of her achievements, she felt like they were all just pitiful sympathies. Sasuke on the other hand, never said anything, and it made her feel good, he didn't say white lies to her to make her feel better, he trusted her. Sakura's heart fluttered as she began to visualize Sasuke, how she missed him dearly. After the war, and before he left to redeem himself, Sasuke had talked to her far more, respecting her and go as far enough as to have intimate moments. He had promised to come back after he traveled more to look for any sort of comeback from Madara or black Zetsu, but of course she had to be the one to be here at the wrong time. She slowly put the scroll back in her back pocket, she wanted to prove Sasuke she could stop someone like Madara, far more than anyone. Perhaps this could convince him to allow her to travel with him, which she had begged numerous times before. As she rested, back to closing her eyes, she felt her body with goosebumps, remembering Sasuke. 

Sakura shot up from her slumber, feeling a pebble hit her head. 

"Weren't you suppose to be on the look out, girl." Madara called out from under the tree she was resting on.

Sakura groaned, almost forgetting she was stuck with Madara. She jumped down where Madara was at, she was now able to fully see him in the bright daylight. 

"My name is Sakura, not girl." she replied.

"I don't care." he commented.

Sakura wanted to punch his other ribs so he could truly not move or even speak, but she just took a deep breath and began to walk towards the east.

"Hey, I can't walk so much, remember?"

"That sounds like your problem." Sakura spat back, as she continued to walk. 

Madara grinned his teeth, wanting to destroy her that instant, but she was his only way to Konoha. 

The remainder of the walk Madara was limping far behind Sakura, cursing at her every second of the way.

Sakura stopped her tracks, as she noticed a small village near by, she had not eaten all day yesterday and could feel herself running out of fuel. Yes, she had her food pills but those were for emergencies, she looked back at Madara far behind her. She couldn't go in there, but her mouth drooled at the thought of actual food. 

Madara had finally catched on to Sakura who was waiting for him.

"What now." Madara looked over at the village not too far ahead.

"You can't be seen by anyone right now." she commented. "You're still fresh on people's mind and it would be too obvious who you are."

"I'm flattered." he replied.

"Flattered that you're the most hated person in the world right now?" she looked at him, having an idea in mind.

"Perhaps you can hide around the forest, and I'll be back with food and supplies." 

"Fine, this gives me some time to rest." he sighed.

"Rest?" Sakura repeated with a mocking voice. " but that's unnecessary you don't need to rest, you're Madara Uchiha!"

"Shut up." he growled. 

Sakura lend him a shoulder, sprinting to an area more secluded, for him to rest at.

"I don't know if I can trust you being here all alone." she hesitated. "I'm sure as soon as I leave you'll hide and use a trap on me and attack me when I come back."

"Well look at you using your brain." Madara chuckled, but he knew he had to convince her somehow. "I need more healing, the walk made me lose some energy from keeping up, I can't fight you right now as much as I want to."

"I'll heal you after I come back." Sakura replied, she took one last look, sprinting towards the village. 

_Why am I trusting him?_

She felt like she was doing the stupidest mistake any ninja could do, but if he had really wanted to run, he'd attack her the second she made him walk by himself, or he could have left, but he didn't, making her feel more confident. 

As she rushed to the village she could already smell some food from restaurants with opened venues. At the entrance Sakura was greeted by the guards, who immediately recognized her from her headband. She walked by looking for drug stores for medicine and then groceries to take for Madara to eat. As for herself, she treated herself to a nice tiny restaurant the locals kept recommending to her. For a moment she felt at ease, as if she was just returning from her regular mission and was just taking a look around the place, but Madara crawled right back into her mind. As she ate, she imagined the possible traps Madara could of done, deciding to come back ready to fight back if anything. 

Madara stayed put at the hideout they decided to stay, he felt blood and pus oozing out of his open wounds, he needed bandages of some sort to close his wounds, Sakura couldn't always check on them or heal them. On top of that, he hated to rely on her this much. He felt a bit of envy as well, she could go get food before him, while he had to wait until who knows how long. He began to feel more ill and felt his gagging reflexes, as he began to vomit out blood, he looked at his hands shaking. Now he really needed Sakura, but he'd know she would take her sweet time to come back, he felt his eyes slowly fade, fighting the urge to pass out, he heard the sound of branches and leaves moving but before he could come to his full senses he passed out. 

Sakura had gotten back just in time, to see an unconscious Madara, looking pale as blood was covered around him. She gasped as she sprinted towards him, quickly going to medical ninjutsu, he was dying. Sakura's morals came into play, as much as she hated Madara, her job was to save lives, and at this moment she felt like she had failed at her duty as a ninja. As she began to heal him, she could feel him bleeding from the inside, deciding to close up the wound, she quickly took off her back pocket. digging through it, she got a scalpel, quickly opening his stomach, studying his organs, she noticed the impact of her punch had cause trauma in his body and was going into shock mode, she quickly began to close all open wounds she could find. She felt her whole body sweat, concentrating to keep him alive. For almost an hour she used her medical ninjutsu, feeling her body drain from over working, he was slowly recovering. When she felt it was enough for his body to sustain itself again, she closed the opening she created. She began to put bandages all over his torso along with his burns on his arms and back. She finally laid him down, as she felt herself collapse as well, she studied the sky, branches and trees hiding the purple and blue colors. 

"I need to keep watch." she whispered, trying her hardest not to pass out.

She slowly sat her self up, leaning on a rock besides the resting spot, she looked down at her hands full of dry blood, and over to Madara. He was breathing normal again with his flesh back to its regular color. She sighed in relief, resting as she continued to keep an eye around them.


	4. Chapter 4

Madara felt a pinch of pain, that soon turn into a sharper sting, allowing him to wake up. His body felt agitated, as if he had never truly rested, he winced at the pain as he slowly sat up from his slumber. Studying his surroundings, he began to recall what happened to him. He was throwing up blood and shaking uncontrollably, he felt like he was truly dying. The torture of it was more unbearable than close to death combats. He could feel his organs shutting down, every inch of pain he felt was torture, and he was surprised he had somehow still woke up from it. 

Madara looked down, studying the bandages around him, they were smudged with dry blood, and around him was more. His clothes had been taken off and put to the side,recalling they were drenched as well. He sighed, figured that girl had saved him. He cursed at his misfortune, the last thing he wanted was to be in debt with Sakura. Speaking of her, she was nowhere in sight, perhaps back at the village. As he looked around him further on, he found fruits and vegetables by a tree, his mouth watered at the sight of it. He tried to get up but the pain struck through, arching his torso forward. He couldn't believe it was possible his injuries were all due to Sakura. She might have a strong hit, but his body ached more than ever.

A sudden rusting of leaves could be heard, but he was already familiar with that chakra scent, it was the pink haired girl. He took a quick glance at her, before she could look at him. She looked tired, but calmer than when they first started traveling. Sakura came along with medical tools, bandages and some sort of herb in a small container like bottle. 

Sakura glanced up, finding Madara awake, slouching lazily.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

As much as he wanted to be stubborn and ignore her questioning, he felt too tired to argue with her.

"Fine."

Sakura sighed, understanding more than she did before, he was tenacious, his egoistic views kept him from getting on her good side. 

She decided not to dwell on the subject, deep down she felt guilty. Even Madara, who was an enemy, did not want to kill him. Perhaps because of Naruto's compassion, always wanting to understand and persuade the enemy. She reminded herself the countless times our enemies turned into help, but she didn't have the power Naruto did. She couldn't tell Madara to stop being so stubborn and just let her help him. She couldn't explain to him the countless lives she endured, the pain her friends, felt. How Naruto almost died and she had to manually keep his heart from giving out.How Sasuke grew colder and colder from what he whispered in his ears. Her vision blurred, realizing the knot in her throat was preventing her from swallowing her cries. 

Madara on the other hand, had not noticed her, he was meditating to relax his muscles from creating more pain. 

"Why did you do that?" Sakura had startled Madara.

"What are you talking about?" he finally spoke after a long pause.

"Why do you want to control everyone so bad." 

Madara looked over to her, he noticed how furious she was, streams of tears down her face, seeing how hard she was trying to keep them in. 

"I know nothing of what I did, how can I explain something I have yet to know." he talked back. 

Sakura looked down again, he was right and it made her more pissed. The fact that he didn't know, how she wished this could somehow be the past and do anything to convince him from hurting anyone. 

"I'm taking a walk." she got back up, grabbing the basket of fresh fruits and vegetables, she put it closer to Madara. Without a word from both, she disappeared back into the woods. 

Madara took a handful of the food, eating one after another. The amount of energy he lost trying to stay alive had drained him, he had finished every single thing that was in the basket. He sighed, annoyed of the situation he was in. Out of all people he could run to, it had to someone from Konoha. Images of Hashirama appeared, his former best friend, the one who endured so much with him. Sakura's words lingered through his mind, how had he accepted of Hashirama's values? It was rare to give in, he felt ashamed of his future being determined by that. But what was more confusing to him, was the war he had started. He felt no sympathy for the girl, but why had she still brought it up with tears? Had it really affected her, or was she just that weak? He was also going nowhere, if he wanted to get there quicker and perhaps enhance his recovery with her medical ninjutsu, he would have to do more than just follow her. Madara's sinister mindset took a step further, he wanted to make sure she gave in to him, maybe to even assist him. He immediately disregarded that idea, even he could see her loyalty to the village. 

For what seemed like forever, Madara grew tired of waiting for the girl. He forced himself to get up, feeling the stretch of his wounds. He focused to look for her chakra, which wasn't far away. With a steady walk he made himself around the forest, soon reaching Sakura.

Sakura was sitting by a small lake, it was calm and quiet, but her thought were not. Madara wasn't so sure how to start a conversation either. 

"What do you want?" luckily for Madara, she started it for him.

"Being hostile won't help either of us." he replied, still keeping himself a far distant from her.

Sakura did not speak, she instead sighed, getting up and walking back towards the campsite they were staying at. Madara on the other hand grew annoyed.

"I walked all the way over here, just so you can ignore my request?" he raised his voice.

"I didn't ask you to come here." she shot back.

"Listen, I'm trying to come to agreements here." he growled, trying his best not to let her get the best of him. " You call me stubborn, yet you can't put our difference aside for the sake of your village."

Sakura stopped, turned back her eyes full of rage, how dare for him to lecture her of something he was an expert on.

"Put our differences aside?" she repeated, as she walked quick back towards him. 

"Look at yourself Madara! You're so delusional with your massive ego, I never asked to fight with you!' her words began to echo around them, the forest became more quiet as she felt herself with more rage.

"You stabbed me! You started fights with unknown ninja, all because of your stubbornness, all because you think you're this mighty god! Even at your strongest point in life, did you struggle to understand just how truly alone you are, how you see no one but yourself! And now you have the sudden balls to tell me, that I need to come to an agreement with you?! I could of left you there to die, but no because of my loyalty, because of my values I saved your poor ass! So stop talking down on me as if I'm the one making things more difficult. Get yourself out of this fantasy you live in, be a man and admit your mistakes!" Sakura's shouting took some breath out of her.

Madara on the other hand, was truly shocked. No one had ever spoke to him like that, not even Hashirama who he had ever truly respected. For once he was at lost for words. He thought just telling her he will comply to her would be enough to set them back to their tracks quicker.

"See." she turned back, "You can't bring yourself to admit anything, that's how dense you are." without acknowledging Madara anymore, she made her way back to the campsite.

Madara was now the one resting by the lake, unsure of what to do. For certain, he wanted to kill her, he wanted to torture her far more than anything now, but how could he with such a weak state? As much as he hated to admit, he was very dense. He had to mentally train himself, convince him to just admit her his wrong doings, just so she could let him meet the new Hokage. After all he knew he was right, he didn't have to justify himself to Sakura, he almost lost himself by trying to win an argument with this pathetic girl, his stubbornness got the best of him. 

Madara walked back to the campsite, finding Sakura on a tree resting. He took a deep breath, reminding himself he had no need to justify himself to her.

"Sakura." for once he spoke her name.

She didn't bother to look over to him, nor say nothing.

"I apologize." he paused, scattering through his mind for the words to convince her. "I'm confused, and I'm vulnerable to you. In defense I become obstinate."

Sakura still stood quiet, but allowing his words go through her mind. 

"I want answers as well, I want to know what my purpose is now that I'm no longer in need as I was before. Help me before I corrupt again."

Sakura could hear his words become truly empathetic, maybe the yelling she did paid off. 

Sakura jumped down to where he stood.

"I have yet to trust you." she spoke, finally seeing him eye to eye. " But, I appreciate your reflection of this, and that you finally said my name." she smiled, a very weak one that is.

Madara didn't return the friendly gesture back, but instead raised his arm towards her.

"Can we agree to go back to Konoha without rancor."

Sakura studied his hand, extended to meet hers, she hesitated but gave in. They both shook their hands in agreement, finally moving forward to figuring out this whole mess they have found themselves into.


	5. Chapter 5

The two had walked and made their way closer to their destination, Sakura was by far the most nervous to get there. How would it all go, will Madara go crazy again and try to kill? She shook her head, there was no way he could defeat Naruto, Kakashi and Sasuke all at the same time.

"There's a small village near here, I can get more food for us. Just one more day and we will finally get to Konoha." she commented.

Madara scoffed, he was tired of having to wait like a dog for Sakura to get him some food while she could go eat at restaurants freely. Madara was no idiot, every time she came back from getting supplies she smelled like pork and ramen of some sort. 

"I want to go as well." Madara added.

"You can't, people will recognize you." Sakura stated.

"I want to run my own errands, it's annoying having to depend on you so much." 

"Then what do you suppose we do?" she crossed her arms.

Madara had been wearing a hood since he last got injured, all his clothes were dirty full of blood, he put his hood up and tied his hair and hid it under the cape.

"There." 

"I don't know, you still look like an Uchiha." she commented, but she did feel bad at some point after her nice little dates by herself, while Madara waited. She sighed, knowing she would regret this.

"Fine, we will just have to make sure you're looking down constantly."

"I'm confirmed dead, people can just say I look familiar to the great Madara Uchiha." he stated.

"'Great, right." she said under her breath.

"Shut it." he answered back.

Sakura had learned to ignore his rude comments and continued her way to the path. As they walked, some people began to appear walking by, she could see they were usually merchants trading from one village to another. She felt anxious every step of the way, could she really pass Madara by the village like this?

_It's going to be okay Sakura, there's no ninja here.... Unless, they're also traveling._

_Oh god, what if it's a ninja from the leaf, what is Sasuke is here out of all places?_

"Hey," Madara's gravelly voice startled her. "Is that it?"

Sakura looked forward seeing a tiny village with elders walking around and kids playing.

"Yes." she gulped, trying hard not to show Madara just how nervous she was. 

Madara on the other hand, knew all to well. Usually she would spit back rude comments and lift her head up, but right now she was looking constantly at the ground, in deep thought.

"Why are you so troubled by this?" he sighed.

"Shouldn't you be the nervous one here? You could get attacked any moment if we cross paths with certain people." she whispered.

"I'll just kill them."

"Not in my watch." she snapped back.

Madara was still not completely used to being talked back to, he glanced at her counting the time till he could truly demolish her.

"Stop looking up so much we are getting closer."Sakura told Madara, who was already thinking of ways to kill her. 

They were greeted by a guard in front of a small gate.

"Hello, where are you two from?" The old man smiled, allowing them in.

"Konoha." Sakura gave a nervous smile.

"Welcome ninja, please enjoy your stay." 

With that one interaction Sakura was holding her breath trying hard not to overthink, repeating to herself everything would be fine. She looked over to Madara, who was staring at a ramen shop. Sakura didn't want to admit it but she did feel guilty not letting him in on more delicious foods. It could be because of his apology at the forest that made her see he was also just as human as her, even if that was deep down in his guarded heart. She started to understand why Naruto was so forgiving with enemies, but that didn't change the fact that he killed many people. 

_No, that wasn't him, he didn't kill people._

Yes, Sakura began to push that thought aside, this Madara was still quite innocent. Sure he had his stubbornness and didn't quite agree with the will of fire the leaf ninja did, but he did help Hashirama built the place she now calls home. 

"Would you like to try some?" Sakura commented, with a very hesitant voice.

"Well, I didn't think you'd ask."

Sakura swore she almost saw a smile for a second, the curving of his lips was something rare. If he did smile it was all for him own enthusiasm, but she shook it off, figured it was the way he spoke. 

They both went in to the small shop, it had opened seating where you could get a good view of pedestrians walking with huge opened windows allowing fresh air to come in.

"Welcome!" an old man greeted the ninja."sit anywhere you'd like and we will be right with you!"

Sakura looked up at the Uchiha, who was almost crouching down, the ceiling was too low for his statue. She couldn't help but snort a few chuckles. 

"What's so funny?" he demanded, knowing well what is was.

Sakura ignored him and made her way to a table, Madara followed along and sat across from her, Sakura was quite surprised of this. Usually she ate alone when she traveled with other ninja's besides her friends, and this wasn't her friend. but she figured how could he pay by himself, again brushing another silly thought aside. 

The old man finally came to their table and they ordered their food. The both ninja stayed, quiet as they waited, Madara would just look at the people walk while Sakura looked the opposite direction.

"What do you plan to do once you meet the Hokage?" Sakura commented.

"I'd like to learn more about this current world, about my clan." 

"Sasuke is the last Uchiha."

Madara glared at her, pondering over this Sasuke.

"Has he done anything to reincarnate the Uchiha?"

Sakura's thoughts wondered immediately to something more intimate, growing red and looking away trying hard to be professional about this. No matter what situation, Sakura couldn't help but think fondly of Sasuke the second he popped up in her head.

"Well, right now he's working to find any other enemies who are trying to destroy the peace we live in. On top of that, he has other personal issues to deal with." she got quiet by the end of the sentence, which Madara noticed immediately.

"What personal issues?" he asked.

"I'm not too sure, perhaps some sort of meditation for himself after all the damage he did ... to the village." Her voice sounded sad and almost as if she no longer wanted to speak of this subject, but Madara took an interest of this, continuing to poke on the topic.

"Damage? I guess Uchiha are known for our chaos." he commented, seeing if Sakura would get a reaction. "I'm assuming you have limited information about him."

"I know him personally, he's my friend." she quickly added. "I just don't want to talk about his personal issues with someone else."

A young lady came by, giving them their food, distracting them from the topic. Without any other word Sakura began to eat, hoping that Madara wouldn't ask anymore. As much as she loved Sasuke, it still hurt her the numerous times he had mentally broke her. The question buzzed around her head like an angry wasp, why did she still love him after all that? Her parents taught her better to know her value, but because of their memories and how long she's known him, she didn't want to let go.

"You're depressing me here." Madara once again brought her out of her own head.

"W-What are you talking about?" she stuttered.

"I'm not stupid, this Sasuke you speak of, is more than just a friend."

"What makes you think that?" her cheeks blushed a bright red, trying hard not to feel herself overheating.

"Every time Sasuke is brought up, you lift your shoulders up, and turn scarlet red. It's obvious what he has done truly impacted you. "

Sakura was shocked at how he knew, she didn't think out of a million conversations with Madara, would go anywhere near this topic. She looked down at the broth, finding the words to tell him something. 

"I would like to speak to him as well once we get to the village." he commented, as a way to a halt this conversation.

"You're boring me here, anyway." He stoop up and looked over the pathway to walk back into the village. 

"where are you going?" she asked, getting up as well.

"I'm going to walk around." with that he stepped out walking into the crowd of people.

Sakura smacked her teeth, jolting out as well, hoping to catch him.

"Hey!!! You need to pay!" the sweet old man turned angry at Sakura, who almost forgot paying was a thing.

"Oh yea, here. Keep the change." Sakura didn't think twice about her hard earnings, she was more concern about Madara wandering off like a kid. 

She stormed around the village, trying to find the tallest figure, scared he could try to escape now that he was capable of moving around by his own. She had been healing him a lot more, but soon began to regret this.

_I'm going to break his legs this time, that way he can't walk away. Now I look like an idiot looking for a grown ass man!_

She heard the familiar voice not too far, turning over to the right, she saw a pub, laughter could be heard along with unpleasant smells. 

"Day drinking, really?!" stomping forward, she walked in, seeing some shady people looking at her direction. 

She could feel his chakra very close, slowly scanning the room, she finally saw him on the corner of the bar, talking to an older woman.

Sakura didn't care about the looks she was receiving, clearly pissed, she tapped Madara's shoulder, trying hard not to smack him instead.

Madara faced her, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"What do you want?" paying little attention to her.

"Who told you, you could just leave my sight?! How the hell are you going to pay your drinks here?!" she tried to ramble on but Madara interrupted her. 

"The nice woman over there offered, I'm just taking my opportunity before coming back to your pity party."

Sakura rolled her eyes as well, she would of never guessed Madara being this type of guy to just drink and hang out with this type of crowd.

"No wonder Hashirama was fit more for the job as the Hokage." she said under her breath, about to walk out of the bar.

"What did you say, stupid girl?!" he stood up as if ready to fight her right then in there. 

"Oh my, is this your wife?" the woman sitting beside him also got up.

"As if I'd go as low as that." Madara was able to calm down, and sat back down, he will remember this.

Sakura felt embarrassment hit her, she knew she was better than Madara, better than this lowlife. Without any comebacks to give, she stepped out, frustrated, her cheeks were flushed with red, feeling stupid for not defending herself back there. But she was at a lost of words, she could care less if Madara ever considered her to be a fitted wife, but he also insulted her as a woman. She started leaving the village, looking for a new hideout she could rest in, as much as she wanted to leave Madara here, she couldn't, not when they were this close to reaching Konoha. As she rested in a cave she found, her thoughts lingered, she missed team 7, her true home, it had been difficult for her to let go of those memories. Naruto was now in his way to train and become the next Hokage, Kakashi was far too busy with paper work, and Sasuke was trying to find himself.

"Sasuke wouldn't treat me like this." she spoke softly, seeing the sky turned into a deep blue. 

"Because I'm not Sasuke." Madara's voice rumbled through the cave, startling Sakura. 

She noticed his dark figure come closer, an odor of booze and liquor coming from Madara.

"Ugh, get away from me, you smell gross." Sakura was about to get up, when she felt his hands grab both her shoulders, squeezing tight, letting out a yelp from Sakura. 

"I have unfinished business with you, how dare you compare me with Hashirama!?" he was clearly drunk, Sakura felt the migraine she would soon get because of this.

"Let go, you're intoxicated." she tried to pushed his hands off, but Madara didn't budge.

"Are you angry that I said I would never make you my wife?" he chuckled.

"What? No, I'm pissed you're acting like a child."

"It's alright," he smirked, as he slid his hand to Sakura's face pressing her cheeks together, forcing her to pout. " you have a pretty face, if only you'd shut that mouth of yours, than maybe I'd get Sasuke out of your mind."

Sakura's eyes widened, unable to react, he had never complimented her on anything, and the last thing she expected him to was on her looks. As much as she wanted to push him away, she felt this weird feeling in her chest, she wanted to hear more of what he had to say.

"I need to piss." he burped out.

Sakura took a swift of his breath, his face was close enough to distinguish he had been drinking straight up sake. With enough force she pushed his hands off, making him almost fall over, he had been putting most of his weight on Sakura.

"You're talking nonsense." she walked out of the cave, taking one last look back towards Madara, he was already collapsed on the floor, dead asleep. 

Sakura sat down on a small rock placed not too far from the cave, she looked down at the dirt, replaying what Madara had said to her, not realizing how quick she forgot about Sasuke.


	6. Chapter 6

The day was very quiet, Sakura didn't bother to mention Madara the things he said the other night, not because she didn't want to embarrass him, she just didn't want to embarrass herself. He was drunk and clearly meant nothing of what he said.

_Why can't I stop thinking about it?_

Perhaps Sakura showered interest, due to the similarities the Uchiha had. Madara had a striking resemblance of Sasuke. Sakura admitted, the Uchiha were very attractive. When she finally met Itachi, Obito and Madara, she found them to be striking. But she paid little attention to this during the time from the obvious war around them. Sakura had finally convinced herself she was only so startled by his comment, was because he looked just like Sasuke.

While Sakura battled with her toughts, Madara was hung over, annoyed even by the beaming sun obstructing his view. He had not spoken a word to Sakura since last night, perhaps because he just couldn't remember. 

"Once we get there I need you to be under my orders." she commented, knowing he would complain about it.

She waited for him to ramble on but the headache was enough to keep him quiet.

She was familiar with the trees and landmarks and knew exactly how close they were to meeting the entrance of thr Hidden Leaf. For once she was grateful he had a hungover, now he could be more numb and wouldn't be as loud as before when she first mentioned the village. If he saw Hashirama's face on the mountains of their village, she was sure it would stir him up. 

"We are here." they both look up to see the big entrance, Madara took a quick glance, ignoring the name of the village as much as he could. 

It was cruel to him to see this, he was forced to seeing his home, the home that betrayed him.

"Sakura Haruno!" the guards called out her name, Madara took a look at the ninja, who had a different attire than Sakura. They wore green vest with the ninja leaf headband on their foreheads.

As they walked closer, Madara could see their faces looked confused, shocked and angry. Sakura had warned him of the looks he would first receive, and that she would do the talking.

"I need to meet with the Hokage this instant." her voice sounded like when they first met, a powerful demeanor with far more confidence than what Madara had witnessed in the past few days. 

"Is that... Madara Uchiha?" one of them commented, as Madara's ego filled with pride.

"Yes, but please don't worry, I got him to settle down, he understand the circumstances. we are in." 

"Wh-How were you able to do that?" 

"It's Sakura that's why!"Madara glanced over at the other guy, he could tell he was a fan of hers.

"Please follow me, Madara." she looked at him checking to see his reaction so far.

"Hmph, I see you're well known around here." Madara finally spoke.

"I'm close to the Hokage, he was once my sensei." she stopped and looked towards the left. "Come this way, I don't want to walk on the main road, some people could try and attack you instantly." 

"As if they would be able to, you underestimate me a lot for someone who has seen my full potential." Madara scoffed, following Sakura to a new path. 

"You're now in our territory, one wrong move and every ninja in this village will come for you, I'm asking you not to stir anymore chaos." she glanced at him, who had his arms crossed, she caught him chuckling and for once a genuine smile appeared on his face.

"I'm honored to know so many ninja would come to get me, one is not enough for me."

"Except for me, apparently." she joked, it almost seemed normal to do this with him, but it was the first time she meant no harm in her words. 

"Will I also meet Sasuke?" 

"I'm not sure, he's rarely here, he comes to visit once a month if he has the time." she commented, thinking of his last visit.

"He has the time, just doesn't want to waste it here." he commented, hoping to create a reaction out of Sakura.

"You don't know him." she flinched.

"nor do you." he felt her skin boil, finding himself amused of her. 

"Arggh! Shut it before I break your ribs again!" she put her first in front of his face, acting as if she was a threat to Madara. 

"Don't forget I'm almost fully healed, only because i have a migraine, I don't care to argue with you." 

As they rambled on who was better, they found themselves in front of the Hokage building. Sakura almost forgot it was Madara who she was bringing along, this was no casual hello to Kakashi and Tsunade. As they passed by the guards, they immediately greeted Sakura as if she knew them since they were young, but as soon as Madara appeared right beside her, they grew cold. Sakura had to keep explaining herself to everyone who gazed at them what was going on, and that Madara was no threat. He was also getting tired of hearing the same thing over and over. 

"Okay," Sakura took in a deep breath, with a hint of joy on her face. They were now in the hall just before opening the door to the Hokage's office. "Wait right here and I'll tell them, once I call you, please come in."

"Why are you so excited for?" he mocked her.

"Because!" she pouted back, in a very cutesy manner. "I can finally prove to my teachers, I'm capable of bringing the Great Madara without any war, or fighting."

"But we fought." he commented, and also highlighting that she called him the great Madara. 

"You know what I mean," she sighed. "I'm not just a medical nin, i'm also team seven." 

Madara knew she was no longer talking to him, but to herself, as if convincing she was good enough. With that Sakura walked in, while Madara stayed in the hall, hearing muffles of them speaking. Madara dwelled on her way of being, why was she so eager to impress them? Suddenly he heard her voice say his name, asking to come in. 

Kakashi was unable to believe Sakura until he opened the door, finding an exact replica of him standing right before them. Tsunade was beside him, also with a look of shock and disbelief. 

"God dammit, Madara, what forbidden jutsu did you get your hands on this time?" Tsunade commented, resting her head on her hand, massaging the temples of her forehead.

"You said he doesn't know anything of the war, Sakura?"

"No." she commented.

Madara took a look at the Hokage before him, he was not as built as Hashirama, and lacked the happy go get them attitude he disliked the most. For the most part Madara was more fond of this than the first Hokage, on the other hand, Tsunade was just an older and much more annoying version of Sakura. 

"Thank you Sakura, as always you were able to do more than was needed. We'll take care of this from here on, rest up." Kakashi gave a smile towards her, Madara took a quick look at her. 

Sakura's lifted face became more melancholy, her expression was the same but could sense some sort of pity off her. Sakura stepped out, leaving Madara alone in the office with Kakashi and Tsunade. This was a perfect opportunity to strike, but he was unaware of how strong they truly were, instead he decided to keep his act of compliance. 

\----------

Sakura had spoken with the guards, seeking for Sasuke, it was rare but she always asked anyway in hopes he would show up sooner one day.

_He's right, he just doesn't want to deal with us._

Sakura felt at peace she was able to bring Madara all by herself, but something in her chest, the way Kakashi just dismissed her again and again, was not enough for her. She headed to her small house, finally being able to shower and rest. Throughout the rest of the afternoon she found herself to be gloaming on her life, how boring it was truly. 

"Stop it Sakura! Why are you bringing yourself down so much now!" she said out loud in the comfort of her own room. 

Being with Madara too long probably made her second guess herself, the whole way back, all he truly did was mock her.

_Except that one time..._

Sakura shook her head, trying not think about that one comment out of the million he said. She only found it shocking because it came from Madara, who looked to be the least into any sort of romance. A knocking of her door made her jump, she made her way over, assuming it would be Ino or Sai. Naruto had been on a mission according to Kakashi, so it couldn't possibly be him.

She opened her door, spotting the face she had been seeing for the past few days, Madara. 

"W-What are you doing here?" she was shocked but mostly confused.

"I need to speak with you." he asked, making his way in.

"Who told you to come in?!" 

"I invited myself." he looked around studying the tiny room.

"So,?" she awaited to see what he would say. "What happened?"

"Where's this Sasuke?" he asked, ignoring her question.

"He's not here."

"I figured," his voice was almost shaking her tiny home, which amplified it more.

"Why are you barging in here for?" she asked, hoping he wouldn't dodge the question this time.

"Why is it that you always seek for validation?" Madara looked directly at her eyes, Sakura felt tension on her chest, focusing on his pitch black eyes.

"Stop ignoring my questions!" 

"You can ignore my comments from last night, but I can't ignore your silly little questions?" he replied back.

Sakura fell into confusion, unsure if he was speaking about what he said when he was drunk. 

"I'm sorry about what I said about Hashirama and you." she looked back, circling her eyes around the room avoiding eye contact as much as possible. 

"Not that." he murmured, as he got closer to her.

Sakura fell her body fill with goosebumps, seeing his tall figure closing the gap between them, she felt her chest tighten, trying hard to avoid him, she side stepped beside him looking around as if looking for an answer she already knew.

"What are you talking about?" she felt her voice become softer. 

"Stop acting stupid, don't make me regret from looking at you with different eyes." 

Sakura felt her body twist towards his direction, landing directly in front of him. The second she put her eyes on him, she could see his sharingan finally activating before her. She had put her guard down and felt herself getting into a genjutsu, but something felt off about this. Madara wasn't torturing her, she figured his plan all along was to kill her, but instead he looked at her deep into her eyes. She almost felt as if Madara was seeing her fully exposed and vulnerable, like a hawk that finally got a hold of his meal. He wanted to ravish her, seeing her become this weak little mouse that had taunted him for days, was now quivering on the palms of his hands. 

"Cry," he commanded. 'scream for his name, and wish you never met me." he spoke so husky right on top of her lips. Sakura felt shivers down her spine, feeling herself become weaker, the more she stared at him, the more she felt his hot breath right on top of her lips. Madara leaned in, feeling her soft lips pressed against his for the first time, all he really wanted to do was shut her up.

Sakura trembled as his touch sparked something in her, it felt wrong, it felt like the worst sin she had committed, but yet she pushed her lips into rhythm with his, feeling his wet kisses intertwining with hers. Madara quickened himself, forcing Sakura to open her mouth, forcing his tongue inside hers, she was shocked but her body didn't deny his entry. Her hands traveled through his body upward, touching everything she once was too afraid to. Madara's hands continued to push her face to his, almost as if they were going to become one if he didn't stop. Sakura's breath became shorter and shorter gasping for air that Madara didn't allow, he liked seeing her squirm under him, unleashing a possessive side. With his other hand, he got a hold of her hands, pushing her to the wall, causing Sakura to yelp on how forceful he was. Madara looked down at her pathetic body that couldn't resist him. 

"Has Sasuke ever made you feel this good?" he said on her ear, feeling Sakura's body tremble, she couldn't talk, all she wanted was more of his lips, more of his touch.

"I'll leave you to think about that." he smirked, feeling just as unsatisfied as her, but he had to wait, he had to tease her a little more before he could truly make her his.


	7. Chapter 7

Sakura jolted from the comfort of her own bed, as sweat dripped down from her forehead, she felt warm and almost ill for a moment. Her eyes traveled through the room, hyper-aware of every noise and movement. 

_Was it a dream?_

Sakura could still feel his touch, the way he sent goosebumps down her spine, those eyes that made her weak. She kept denying it, Madara wouldn't do something like that, the fact that he didn't bring up what happened with Kakashi shows it was all a dream. One thing she couldn't deny ianymore, she had a liking to Madara, a little crush, all because of a small comment he didn't mean. 

"Sakura!!" the muffling of a familiar voice was calling her name outside her house, she got up still shaken up about her weird fantasies with the Uchiha. 

She made her way to her door entrance, as soon as she opened it, she was greeted by an eager Naruto, worried and ready to fight.

"Sakura, are you alright?" 

"Yea, I'm fine, why do you ask?" Sakura yawned.

"Oh thank god that bastard didn't try to do something to you!" he grinned his teeth, looking down annoyed.

"What?" for a second she forgot it was abnormal to bring Madara along, "Oh, Madara? No you got it all wrong, he's here he's complying to us!" she smiled.

"Didn't Kakashi tell you? He's gone missing." Naruto gave her a serious look.

"Wait, what?!" Sakura was now fully up.

"Yea, that bastard hurt Tsunade and escaped before Kakashi could do anything." Naruto sighed. "I just got here from my mission, I haven't talked to them yet, let's go check on them, pretty sure Tsunade's at the hospital." 

Sakura quickly put her casual clothes on, worried of what she had done. As they walked there, Naruto babbled on about his mission, saying he was grateful Kakashi called him back. Sakura couldn't keep up with the conversation due to her confusion and frustration. Madara had lied to her, she felt more than just angry with him, she was hurt. She swore he was different by the end of the journey, opened to learning this new world, but at the end it seemed he was just playing with her. She wanted to punch him, wishing she could just let him die at the forest, but her pride got the best of her. What she felt more guilty for, was her thoughts of him, of course he would never look at her any other way than a stupid girl.

"Hey Sakura?" Naruto startled her, they have made their way to the Hospital. 

"Sorry Naruto," she looked down disappointed. 

Naruto knew her well more than any body.

"This isn't your fault, you know that right?" 

"I'm the one who brought him here, if I wasn't so naive, this wouldn't be happening."

"What are you talking about?! If you didn't see him in the first place pretty sure we would of been attacked unexpectedly again, like the time Pain destroyed the village. If anything, you helped us out a lot!"

Sakura looked down, knowing she wasn't just upset about that, but she couldn't tell Naruto the guilty feelings she had for the enemy.

"Let's go in." Sakura finally spoke, walking towards the entrance of the Hospital.

"Sakura!" Naruto held on to her shoulder before letting her in. "Please promise me you won't blame yourself."

"I'll try not to." regardless, Sakura still felt guilty, she realized she wasn't like Naruto who could just convince anyone. 

They made their way to Tsunade's room, Shizune was in there as well, taking good care of her beloved friend.

"Hey granny, how you feeling?" Naruto called her out.

"Better, it wasn't a deep puncture."

Sakura stood behind Naruto, almost ignoring her teacher's presence, she couldn't bring herself to look at the wound he created.

"Would you guys mind leaving me alone with Sakura for a second?" she asked, clearly seeing Sakura's insecurities shining through. Both of them aware of the situation, left the room leaving Sakura and Tsunade in awkward silence.

"Sakura, this isn't your fault." Tsunade sighed, knowing how her pupil would react.

"I'm sorry, Tsunade." her voiced cracked, but she maintained her head high, after all Tsunade thought her to stay confident, regardless how painful things were.

"Don't use tactics I showed you in front of me, tell me what's going on in your head." Tsunade snapped.

"I feel bad, I caused all of this." Sakura wanted to cry. "Now you're hurt and we have yet another enemy." 

"Sakura, you're not at fault here, matter of fact, no one is. Even Kakashi thought he had changed, is it his fault too?" Tsunade sighed, she knew the second Madara escaped she would put all this on her shoulders, but she didn't realize it would affect her this deeply.

"When did all of this happen?" Sakura asked.

"Hm, you didn't get the message?" Tsunade immediately went into thought, finding it strange.

"I barely found out because of Naruto,he told me that Kakashi told him to come back."

"Yeah, but I'd like to discuss that more with Kakashi, he has a clue what Madara's intentions could be." Tsunade looked over at her door, with a shadow hovering over it.

"Come in." she spoke louder.

Sakura turned over, seeing Kakashi open the door, Naruto and Shizune were right behind him as well.

"Hello Sakura! Tsunade, how are you feeling?" 

"I'm fine you guys are acting like I can't manage myself dammit!" Tsunade snapped.

Kakashi held his hands up, smiling nervously.

"We just want to make sure you're feeling better." he replied quick, not to anger the former Hokage.

"Well, now that we're all here, we can finally discuss our plans." Kakashi looked over to see Sakura, who was obviously affected by this the most. He looked at Tsunade, giving her a look of 'Did you talk to her?' Tsunade gazed down, still thinking about the messenger Sakura didn't get. 

"Kakashi, looks like you're right, Madara is targeting Sakura." Tsunade spoke first.

Kakashi sighed, realizing why Sakura did not respond last night.

"What?" Sakura was startled by this. "What do you mean, how do you know he's targeting me?!"

"Before you left, Tsunade and I were questioning him, he seemed cooperative at first. We brought in Aoba, one of the intel division experts, just to make sure he didn't plan anything else against us, but when he realized we were going to read his mind, he stabbed Tsunade with a kunai. I tried to follow him but his sharingan made a genjutsu against me and lost track of him. I sent an Anbu to tell you, but it looks like Madara took care of that too."

Sakura was in shock of all this, turns out he had just wanted her to lead the way to the leaf village, to plot yet again his need to control everyone. 

"We realized the only person who can really measure his strength as of right now, would be you, Sakura." he looked towards her, with a serious expression. "He will make sure to get rid of any possible threat, knowing that you defeated him, could mean you're being targeted. On top of that he's aware of your jutsu's and strength, again making it the quickest and most easiest target to get to first. If he chooses not to kill you, he could also try to take you hostage for your medical ninjutsu and to figure out more about us through you, in which he knows you're not only close to me, Tsunade who is a former Hokage, but also the future Hokage Naruto, and Sasuke, the last Uchiha and Rinnegan user."

Sakura stayed quiet, not realizing just how much danger she could be in with Madara. No less than 24 hours ago, they walked side by side, almost with full trust, talking about each other in a joking manner. 

"That's why I brought Naruto back, and Sasuke will be arriving tomorrow as well." 

Sakura looked at both Tsunade and Kakashi in shock.

"Sasuke? But he's got other important matters to deal with." she finally replied.

"This has now become top priority, you're top priority Sakura." Kakashi finally took off his serious expression, smiling at his former student.

"That's right, Sakura! No way am I going to be miles away knowing Madara is nearby!" Naruto added.

"Right now, the Anbu are being on the look out on every corner of the village, I don't want to make a big deal out of this yet, I want the village to remain calm due to the war we just went through. Naruto will also be a big sensory asset to us, he can detect malicious chakra through Kurama."

Sakura stayed quiet, trying to understand how serious this situation has become just over the night.

"Sakura." Kakashi snapped.

"Yes, Kakashi."

"Whatever is troubling you, just know it's not your fault." 

Everyone in the room knew she would feel guilty. Just when Sakura felt like she had finally done a big job like Naruto and Sasuke, it all came crushing down. 

"I know this is all sudden but, we need you to go to the Intel Division to gather as much information about Madara." Kakashi stated. "Don't worry we don't need to read your mind, we trust you will give us all the information available to us." 

Sakura gave him an agreeable gesture.

Thank god, or they'd know about what I think of him. 

"I'll head there right away." Sakura replied.

Kakashi agreed, he began to talk to Naruto about where to look for Madara, as for Sakura she walked out, not caring to know more about what they had to say. No matter how many times they said it, she knew deep down it was all her fault.


	8. Chapter 8

That's all for now, thank you Sakura!" Inoichi smiled at her, she could recognize Ino and her fathers resemblance quite well.

Sakura made her way out, the day had felt gloomy and long, due to the amount of questions and information she had to give to intel. She could feel multiple ninja hiding around her, she was surprised Kakashi didn't order Naruto to follow her around too.

_It's because I'm weak, they're all checking on me._

Sakura's inner conscious was getting to her head too much since last week. She stopped putting herself down so much after the praise and approval the village had given her. People had acknowledged her strength and medical ninjutsu, saving millions of lives. Sasuke had finally acknowledged her, someone she had been desperately wanting to for a while. As the thought of Sasuke appeared on her mind, she felt comfort he was also coming, even if she knew it wasn't necessarily for her, but for Madara, she would still have a chance to see him and possibly get Madara out of her head, after all she had finally agreed that she only liked him due to their similarities. 

Sakura finally made her way home, immediately throwing herself on the bed, not caring to eat that day. She grew depressed the rest of her night, not wanting to leave her bed, she even had strange dreams the days she was traveling with Madara. Vague images of him appeared, talking to her, kissing her, telling her how much he liked her presence, and that he was willing to stay with her. Sakura would even wake up in the middle of the night, feeling his chakra nearby, but she always felt like it was just her dreams toying with her. 

The endless night had finally ended, seeming like an extra 12 hours were added for Sakura. She lazily got up, deciding to get at least a glass of water, before throwing herself back to bed. A calm knock was heard from her door, she was sure it was just one of the anbu or even Naruto to check on her. 

She opened her door slightly, only taking a quick peak from the crack of her door.

Sasuke appeared right before her, feeling her cheeks blush, realizing how unappropriated she looked. 

"Sakura," before Sasuke could say anything, Sakura slammed the door.

"Wa-wait a sec, let me just look for something!" Sakura lied running to brush her hair down at least a bit, and putting decent clothes on.

Sasuke waited patiently, having an idea why she had shut the door on him.

She finally opened the door again, with her hair calmer and a nervous look on her face.

"Hey Sasuke, I didn't know you'd be here so quick, I thought you'd at least be here by the end of the day?" 

"I was close." he replied, as he studied her. 

She looked distressed, and because of what Naruto had told him, he knew she had not left the house since yesterday.

"It's lunch hour, have you ate?" he asked.

"Uh, no not yet." she scratched the back of her head, as she felt her stomach begging for some sort of nutrition.

"Let's go." 

Sakura felt that nervous feeling she always had when she was anywhere near Sasuke, that little puppy love she had since she was 12 crawling it's way back to Sakura's chest.

"Sure" she smiled, as she finally stepped out, letting light touch her skin once again.

As they made their way to the center of the village, looking for an appropriate place to eat, Sasuke was quiet, something Sakura was used to. It was rare for him to come, so right now, it all felt like she was in a lucid dream.

"Let's go here." he said making his way in.

Sakura followed along, as she thought how she should eat around him, or if she should just start right off about Madara.

They sat down and ordered their food, Sakura as usual got something sweet, while Sasuke got something salty. It was quiet for a while, making Sakura feel awkward almost as if Sasuke was just being nice to her because of the situation she was in.

_Fuck it, I'll just bring it up._

"Have you heard any word if they found Madara yet?" she asked.

"No, I just got here." he answered with a very monotone voice. 

"Oh.." Sakura felt her cheeks turn pink.

"Let's not talk about that right now, were you able to gather information for your clinic at the hidden waves?" he asked.

"Yes," she said softly, " According to the data on their child healthcare, there's too many children who aren't getting regular check ups, I think it will be one of the first places out of Konoha to get my clinic." 

Sasuke paid attention, but said nothing. Sakura couldn't shake this feeling of awkwardness between them. She wasn't used to this Sasuke, who was now focusing on her. 

"Here you go!" the man gave their plates to them, they both ate in silence.

_Say something._

Sakura's mind was running all over the place, why couldn't she bring a conversation up?

"I found these herbs." Sasuke took out a small pouch out of his cloak. "I heard the village I got them from have rare plants that can help for medicine."

"Oh Sasuke, you didn't have to do that." she smiled taking hold of the herbs. "But thank you." 

They had finished their meal, Sakura felt she had lost precious time to talk to him more, to ask about his travels and if he had discovered anything new, she just didn't know how to start off a conversation with him.

"Thank you for taking me to eat Sasuke." she smiled.

"What time do you get out of your research hours?" he asked, recalling Sakura had to go do her daily research for her future clinic.

"Around 7," she replied quite shocked that he remembered.

"I'm going to report with Kakashi that I''m here."

"Oh okay." Sakura smiled trying her hardest not to look disappointed that their little date would end so quick. 

With that they parted ways, Sakura's head immediately went back to the gloomy state it was in.

_God dammit Sakura! Why didn't you ask him anything?! My only chance now he's going to disappear for another 2 months and I'll have to pretend like I'm fine with it!_

She cursed her way to the library, while thinking how she would approach him next time. When she got there she couldn't help but look into history books about Madara. There were pictures of him with as much as information they could give, recalling the other him who started the war. She hated that Madara, She felt herself distinguishing between this Madara and that one much more easily. 

So much for trying to get him out of my head, here I am looking for him through books.

\----------

After a long day of research, Sakura went back home, trying hard to go back to her regular routine. She had to get back to her feet, recalling how active she was before this. She would go help at hospital, make new medicine, go to the library to gather information on running hospitals and clinics so she could one day manage hers. Follow up on Kakashi and Tsunade for any missions or approvals of her request, by the end of the day she'd get home by 10, exhausted. Now she was mentally exhausted, she just wanted to not think for awhile, to not feel this guilty conscious eating her inside. 

As she ate some yogurt while reading book, she felt a presence outside her door. Before the person could knock, she opened it, seeing Sasuke on the other side.

"Hey Sasuke, any news?" 

"Hm, not really, may I come in?"

"Sure." Sakura let him in, her heart felt heavy realizing they were now in a more secluded place.

"Are you alright?" she asked, as she sat next to him.

Sakura wasn't too shocked of his visit, ever since the war ended he'd visited her a lot more and spoke to her about things that troubled him. 

"I'm alright, thank you, Sakura." he looked a bit tired.

Sasuke put his head over Sakura's thighs, as he took a deep breath and rested. Sakura on the other hand, had a slight blush over her cheek bones, her chest raised as butterflies came through her lungs like a roller coaster. Without hesitation, she caressed his hair, he closed his eyes, finally feeling at ease, for once he was somewhere comforting, where he could let himself become fully vulnerable. Every time he rested, he always had an eye open, this one time he was truly resting. This time she didn't want to interrupt the calmness of the silence, perhaps words didn't need to be said with one another to understand. He didn't say anything about Madara, as if he wanted her to forget about it for a moment, while everyone else brought it up, he brought up her actual mission.

_Is he proud of me? Does he think I did wrong in bringing him here?_

Sure, he gave her peace, he gave her time to think, but how she wished she could read his mind, know exactly what's going on inside his head. Just because Sasuke could read her like an open book, did not mean she could with him. 

The night was paused for a moment, allowing both to rest, not thinking of the situation they were both in. They both ended up sleeping on the couch, as Sakura fell asleep sitting, Sasuke stayed asleep on her lap. In the middle of the night, Sasuke woke up to a strange feeling, a presence that could of possibly been Madara, but he was unable to pinpoint due to other Anbu also checking up on Sakura. He took her to the bed and left back to the outskirts of the village, seeing if he could catch any sort of residue of Madara. He knew all too well of Sakura's tiredness due to her guilt. He figured the best thing he could do was not talk about it, but even he could see all she was thinking about was that. 

"How is Sakura doing?" Naruto's yellow beaming body, flashed through the dark forest, following Sasuke. 

"She seems restless." he replied. 

"Nobody knows what else to tell her, Kakashi and I hoped you'd snap her out of it." they both stopped on a thick branch, Sasuke looked around, looking for any sort of campsite or clues.

"Have you felt Madara at all these past 12 hours." Sasuke continued.

Naruto pondered as he scratched his head.

"Well, I could feel some bad chakra like 3 hours ago, you weren't out here yet, why did you figure anything out?"

"I thought I did." he answered.

"Well???" Naruto was always annoyed of how secluded Sasuke was. "We need to work here together to see if we can find him!" he complained.

"For some reason, thew chakra we are used to from the war is not present, making it much more difficult for us to detect him."

"Honestly, I think he already went too far for us to find him." Naruto crossed his arms, as he scrunched his face. "I'm hungry."

"Go, you've been on the look out since I got here, I'll stay here." Sasuke replied.

"Hell yeah!" he punched the air in an enthusiastic manner. "By the way, you owe me one! I let you stay with Sakura for a while, ya'know!" he gave him a goofy smile, knowing all too well about their relationship. 

Sasuke said nothing, signaling Naruto to leave.


	9. Chapter 9

A week passed and it was clear Madara had truly left the area, there were no signs of him anywhere, while Naruto and Sasuke lurked around the village restless, hoping to catch him before he could do more damage. As for Sakura, she slowly got rid of the guilt, she also felt more at ease that Sasuke had been there for her more often. Although she was still her shy self with Sasuke, she became used to the silence between them, realizing words didn't have to be exchanged in order to bond. 

"You're leaving?" Sakura's voice sounded discouraging. 

"I have to go, there's been reports of someone with tail beast chakra in the cloud village. The Raikage is requesting me to take a look." Sasuke responded, clearly seeing Sakura's upsetting expression. "I've also requested to look further, perhaps Madara is hiding in a very secluded area."

Sakura nodding, understanding he wouldn't be in the village for long.

"You're right." she agreed, still wishing to be near him. Her attempt to convince Sasuke to let her travel was less likely to happen, especially now.

"Once we capture Madara, you can come along with me." he added.

"Really?" Sakura's face lit up.

Sasuke gave her a smile.

"I'll be back home soon." with that, Sasuke left. 

Sakura left her expression the same, until she couldn't sense his chakra any longer. She had to be patient, she was used to this waiting, but now she needed someone there with her more than ever. Naruto was still in the village, and she was grateful for that, now she could hang out with her old friend and see what future plans he had going for him. She had finally gone back to her old routine, thanks to Sasuke. As usual she'd be out all day, come back home by 10, eat, shower and straight to bed. She was terrified she wouldn't do the same without Sasuke, scared she depended on him too much, but as days passed once again everything felt normal, only now they had Madara out there again. Kakashi wasn't too worried of this, we had an idea what Madara could do, and how far he could get, but now we had Naruto and Sasuke ten times more powerful than what they were when they were 16, so there was really not much to worry about. 

\-----------

A day after a long run of errand Sakura was far too tired to go to the library, instead she immediately went home. She made herself orange chicken with white rice and green tea, deciding she had to take a rest before she overworked herself like before. She took a bath with dried lilacs and cherry blossoms to calm herself, reading an old book her mother had gave her. Once she was done she made her way to the kitchen for another drink of the tea, but before she could even get there, Madara appeared right before her sitting on her couch. Sakura squealed, at the sudden surprise almost falling back.

"Madara?!" Sakura felt like her eyes were deceiving her, but the more she stared, the more Madara smirked.

"What a nice surprise, to see you in just your bathrobe." his eyes lingered over her body, as Sakura felt her whole face turn red. 

"What the hell are you doing here!?" 

"Aw, not even a welcome home, dear?" he mocked.

Sakura went straight for a punch, but she knew all too well Madara would dodge, and even take a hold of her wrist.

"Now, just cause you did that on me once, doesn't mean it'll happen again." he smiled wickedly. 

"How have the Anbu not caught you from coming in the village?!" she clenched her fist, hoping to slide off his grip.

"That's my secret, just like I'm your little secret." he smiled, as he got closer to her face. 

Sakura suddenly recalled that dream she had, feeling her cheeks turn red.

"You're not my secret!" she snapped back, still unable to move due to his grip. 

"Oh really?" his voice became husky, as he looked all over, looking for the appropriate words to tease her, or perhaps even make her squirm like their last encounter . "Why didn't you tell them about my visit here then?" 

Sakura's expression went from anger to pure shock, the dream was in fact very real.

"Wait, no wait, what.." she said to herself, trying hard to deny it.

"You made a fool out of that Sasuke, but you won't make a fool out of me." his voice became more rough, as he recalled seeing the times Sakura looked at Sasuke with such eyes, eyes that were meant for him only.

"If you are so in love with Sasuke, why is it that you gave in to me so easily?" he got closer to her whole body, now holding both of her wrist, pushing her to the coffee table displayed in the center of the living room.

Sakura couldn't find the words, she thought she had finally gotten over Madara, all because of his looks, all because the real Sasuke was finally there for her, yet she felt her chest explode the second she laid eyes on Madara again. 

"Your eyes tell me enough," Madara sounded menacing, angry, yet he couldn't bring himself to hurt his delicate flower. 

Without hesitation, Madara crashed his lips on Sakura, very different to how he first kissed her. This kiss felt rough, Sakura could feel his grip hold tighter and tighter, as he got on top of her. Madara felt frustrated, rage he had held inside, watching Sakura from afar, as she mingled with the pathetic excuse of an Uchiha. He grew angry that Sakura was now tainted with the touch of another, even if Sasuke did little, even the slightest look to her gave him pure envy. Why was it that Sakura looked for Sasuke and not him? This question roamed around his head for the past few days.

Sakura could feel him growing more restless, eager to the point of biting her lip causing a sting and metallic taste on her mouth, as she felt her heart pound, she didn't even notice how bad she missed him, how deep down she felt this excitement to see him again. 

"Madara, wait," Sakura called out.

Madara put his head up, giving Sakura some air. This gave her a chance to truly see him, his eyes had the sharingan activated, with anger all over his face.

"Why did you leave me?" she asked, feeling a tear go down to her ear due to her laying down, "Why couldn't you just comply and stay here?!" 

Madara's expression changed, he couldn't help himself, he liked her, not this village.

The sudden pounding of the door startled both, Madara took a quick glance at Sakura, wanting to tell her more but they both knew his visit was coming to an end. With that he vanished, Sakura laid there speechless and puzzled, quickly getting up, she adjusted herself, wiped the tears and blood on her face,making her way towards the door.

She took a quick peak, seeing Naruto in full nine tails mode.

"Naruto?" she asked concerned.

"Sakura, I felt some strange chakra here, is everything alright?" he asked concerned.

"Yea, there's no one here?" she opened the door more, letting Naruto in.

Naruto looked around the living room, with a suspicious look.

"Hmmm, you mind if I look around Sakura?" 

"Sure." she hesitated at first but tried to keep calm.

Naruto went all over the house, sniffing like some kind of animal.

"I didn't feel any sort of presence, if I did I would immediately reacted." she stated. "I can take care of myself."

Naruto recalled the conversation he had with Kakashi, stating that they should give her more space and that she bad been feeling inferior to Naruto and Sasuke like before.

"You're right, I'm sorry, I'm just all worked up about him now, after all we had to go through," he sighed.

"Sorry I just barged in," he put his hands over his eyes, recalling Sakura that she had barely gotten out the shower, and only had a bathrobe on.

"It's okay, Naruto." she smiled nervously. "seriously though, I'm fine!"

"Alright, alright!" he chuckled, going back to his old goofy self.

With that Naruto stepped out wishing Sakura a goodnight and to keep a watchful eye. As she closed the door, she felt her whole body sink to the floor, she couldn't believe Madara had come back. The look he gave her when she asked him why he left, made her wonder even more. What did he want to say? Now she knew he had been watching for a while, mentioning Sasuke. Why was he upset? Why didn't he just stay here? Why did he kiss her?

"Things would of been very different if you stayed." she sighed, standing up, she touched her face, not realizing she had been crying again. 

That night Sakura didn't sleep much, she would drift into thoughts, and seconds later she realized the sun was rising. She still had to act normal around Naruto and Kakashi, she didn't want to tell them. She desperately wanted to see him again, but how could she without Naruto and other Anbu keeping watch? She sighed deciding the only way to see him again would be out of the village.

\----------

"Kakashi please, I want to do missions again." Sakura pleaded the Hokage, who was too focused on the pile of papers before him.

"It's still too early to decide that."

"Kakashi-sensei, I feel trapped." she answered back. "I understand my risk here, but I'm capable of taking care of myself, if I've come back in one piece with Madara by my side, then I can do it again."

"See, the difference here is that Madara was injured, you had a slight advantage," he looked up at her, as he took a sip of his hot tea.

"Please, I can bring other Anbu with me." she suggested.

"Hm, why not Naruto? Perhaps he can give you some company while you do your research back at the hidden mist."

That's the last thing Sakura wanted, Naruto was the best to sensor Madara, she had to come up with an idea quick to avoid Naruto from coming.

"Naruto should stay here, where it's a bigger threat to the village." 

"You're just as important, Sakura." he replied.

Sakura sighed, feeling defeated, realizing she wouldn't be able to convince Kakashi. With that Sakura left, leaving Kakashi back to his paper work. At first, he tried to ignore it but his guilt began to rise, recalling the times he had belittled Sakura's power and determination. Perhaps he was being too cautious with her, she was able to handle herself, she had proved it plenty of times, but Kakashi could only see a genin again, barely taking the chunin exams.

"Being the Hokage is annoying." he sighed, as he summoned Tenzo, or what he preferred to be called now, Yamato. 

"Yes Hokage?" Yamato smiled.

"Don't call me that please." Kakashi's expression looked defeated. "Make's me feel old."

"Minato was your age when he became Hokage, and he didnt look a day older." he smiled.

Kakashi decided not to mingle any further, telling Yamato of the situation he was aware of, but this time he had to go with Sakura for her to do her research. 

"Why not Naruto?" Yamato asked, as he looked out of the window of the office.

"Sakura is starting to feel overshadowed by him, I don't want her to feel belittled either."

"Right, should I tell Sakura of the news, then?" 

"Yes," Kakashi replied, as he went back to the tedious work of a Hokage.

Yamato made his way lookig for Sakura, which he found farely quickly, walking by the main road.

"Sakura, how's it been?" He appeared in front of her, catching a quick glance of her expression.

"Oh hey Captain Yamato." she smiled.

"No need to call me that, after all pretty sure you've surpassed me." he laughed. 

"Yea right." her sarcastic tone was enough to show him she was not very happy of the circumstances Kakashi gave her.

"Well, anyways, I've got some good news Sakura, looks like you're able to go travel again." 

"What, really?"

"Yeah, only condition is if I come along."

Sakura's eyes for once sparkled with joy, giving Yamato a big hug, a little too tight, feeling his lungs collapse. 

Yamato was no weak ninja, but he didn't have the nine tails chakra like Naruto did, which was good enough to let her go, now she just needed to know where to find Madara, and finally find an answer.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut on your way, it's also my first time writing it so please go easy on mee, thank you!

Sakura and Yamato were silent during their walk out of the village, this silence wasn't particularly bad or awkward, it was a relief for Sakura. For once Yamato wasn't asking too many questions nor being overly watchful of her. Sakura looked down at the dirt of the road, recalling her little note. If Madara would appear her house, perhaps he'd see the little message she put. 'Go to small village.' was all it said, it was vague, but enough for Madara to understand, hopefully. She also knew this was a silly idea, there would be a 50% chance he wouldn't go anymore, or at least not right now, or maybe he was dumb enough and wouldn't understand the note. All she knew, is that she was the one looking for him. She grew tired of not knowing his plans, not being able to understand why he was doing all of this. As much as she didn't want to admit it, her sympathy grew for him, she began to care a little too much the past few days he last saw him. Was he eating? Where was he staying? Has he fought with anyone again? 

"Sakura," Yamato called her out. "I'm noticing you're not particularly eager to head to the hidden mist, everything alright?"

"Oh yeah, everything is fine, I'm just glad no one is keeping a watchful eye on me anymore, or at least not a lot of people." she smiled, that fake smile she would give to Sai when they first met.

Yamato gave her a restless expression, knowing too well that she wasn't the best at lying.

"Fine," she sighed, thinking quick of another way to convince him, "I want to spend sometime out of the village."

Yamato looked a bit surprised, calming the muscles of his face, hearing Sakura out a little more. 

"There's a particular village close by I want to go to, sort of like a little break from Naruto from stalking me, along with 50 other ninja under my shadow."

Yamato felt genuinely bad, of course she would grow annoyed of all these people looking at her every move, with no privacy, not even in her own home. 

"I'm sorry about that, Kakashi did go a little overboard if you ask me." he sympathized, with a pause he continued," I see now, well I'm not going to deny your request, if you wanted to just have a little vacation, by all means count me in." 

Sakura smiled at him, feeling wrong for lying to him like this, all he really wanted was to help her.

"This small village we are going is very cute, and not too far from Konoha, so it's perfect for me." she continued, as thoughts of Madara appeared again.

She recalled the time they finally went to eat, at first she didn't really noticed but his presence wasn't awkward like Sasuke, nor annoying like Naruto. When they had finally sat down and had a genuine conversation, he read her like an open book, something everyone seemed to be good at.

The rest of the walk, the air was cleared out more, she could feel more comfortable around Yamato, and was now quiet excited to see Madara, the thoughts of him lingered back, she began to think of him fondly more, wishing they could of perhaps done more the day they came to Konoha. One thing she kept insisting however, was her pure lust for him, was due to his striking resemblance of Sasuke. She didn't feel too bad for thinking of this,she was sure that Madara was only mingling with her as well, his actions were obvious of what his true intentions were. 

As they finally made their way to the village, her next goal was to let Yamato wonder out without her, sure he'd be around, but she didn't have to be followed every step she took. 

"I'm going to the hot spring, you don't have to come along if you don't want to." she began, trying hard to stay put, her nerves were already getting the best of her, "this is your little break too!"

"Hm, well I'll join you, I do feel sweaty from walking over here, then from there we'll part ways, I do like to roam and get to know this little place." 

To Sakura's luck, she couldn't do much, deciding not to push her request any further, or it would be too obvious she wanted to be too secluded. As they both head over, they noticed the village had a lot of cute activities for the villagers. Passing by they saw kids and adults playing games where you could win tickets and get free food or use it at shops. 

It would of been fun to do this with Madara. He would probably get frustrated that a child beat him. 

Yamato noticed her smile, he felt more at ease knowing she truly just wanted to take a break from home, from the constant reminders of Madara, but little did he know all of this made Sakura think of him more.

\----------

The rest of the day, Sakura had only stayed in one place, the hotel they chose, while Yamato went around, getting to know the place. Sakura grew tired of waiting for Madara, knowing this would be a lot harder than she imagined. She even made an attempt to go to the nasty bar he'd gone to, but she just ended up being hit on by drunk men. She eventually went back to her room and fell into a deep slumber, forgetting her troubles for a moment, until the man she had been thinking of for the past few days, woke her up.

"Sakura," his voice sounded so pleasant at the waking of Sakura, if only she could hear that more often, but instead she got stupid girl.

Sakura's eyes fluttered, focusing on her surroundings, the room was dark, only those sharingan eyes appeared to be the most visible. 

"Madara," she spoke softly, sitting up from her bed, her eyes began to adjust more, seeing more of his silhouette before her. "Did you get my message?"

"Hm, no?" he rumbled, Sakura wasn't sure if his voice just kept on sounding deeper and deeper, every time they spoke, or she was still half-asleep.

"How did you know I was here?"

"I could smell you, of course." his white teeth appeared, as he grinned at her.

"We need to talk." she finally said those words she had been dreading to say. As much as she wanted to just make-out like the previous times, it wouldn't get anywhere, but more confusion the next day.

"We are talking." he responded, as he sat on her bed, feeling the shift of the bed move due to his larger figure. 

"What is going on between us?" Sakura's eyes gleamed more , her pupils dilated as she now stared at his profile.

Waiting for him, she studied his expression, he was now looking down at the wood flooring, gathering his thoughts. To Sakura, he had the most perfect face features for her preference, without him glaring at her or giving her a look of judgement, she felt a flush of pink, seeing just how attractive he really was, and quite proud of herself, for making out with him more than once. He finally looked back up at her, with a more serious look.

"I'ts clear we did more than just comply with one another," he started off. "But the same question applies to you, I'm only speaking of my thoughts, but I have yet to know yours."

Sakura felt confused of his obvious dodging of the question. Madara could tell by her annoyed expression, he continued, hoping to satisfy her with a better answer.

" I enjoy your company. I crave it," he continued, "but you...you never truly expressed it, only but your actions have allowed me to give in."

Sakura felt her heart pound, knowing he'd also want to know just exactly what she thought of him. She was still looking for an answer herself, it was obvious she also craved something of his, but she wasn't sure she could say it was more than just lust. Multiple times she had found herself daydreaming of dates and activities they could do, something you wouldn't think of in the slightest with someone you only want pleasure from. 

"I don't know," she hesitated, scared he'd run off again. Madara stood silent, knowing he also had the same problem.

"Why did you leave?" she asked, feeling her throat knotting, she could barely now swallow her saliva, without discomfort.

"I don't care for the village, from the second you spoke of the Uchiha clan being extinct, I only grew more hatred for it. You're the only reason I wanted to stay a little longer, perhaps have some fun." he smiled, the usual smile when he just wanted to ravish her.

"So this is all just a hook up to you?" Sakura's voice cracked, it sounded almost disappointed, she didn't mean to but it created a sting in her heart, knowing he really only wanted to fuck. 

"Well, not necessarily. " his expression changed, realizing Sakura was no longer looking at him with dreamy eyes.

"Then what do you want from me!?" her voice was now stern.

"I don't know, dammit, just like you don't know, I don't know. You want me to tell you all the answers while i fall clueless, what kind of arrangement is that?! " he replied back, giving her the same energy she did a second ago.

Sakura hunched down, with sadness filling her face, Madara felt a sharp pain in his heart seeing the way she moved back, he felt immediate regret for speaking to her like that. Without a second thought, Madara took a hold of Sakura's face, rubbing her soft cheeks gently. She allowed him, only but feeling the leather gloves caress her face, she wanted more of his touch, she wanted him but she was too shy to say it.

Madara planted a kiss on the corner of her lips, it was sweet and gentle, something he's the least of. Something very different hit in Sakura, it was no longer lust or pleasure, it felt comforting, warming and just so right. They now both knew this wasn't just for their personal gain, this wasn't for Sakura to be admired, or for Madara to come closer to his revenge, this was purely for them, they wanted this because of each other. As Madara cupped her cheek more, he leaned in closer, giving her more kisses, gently trailing from the corner of her lip to her jaw, down to her neck. This made Sakura leave the world, she was now exploring the wonders of Madara's mouth, who was now nibbling on her neck. His wet tender kisses felt soothing to her, he felt her head move, allowing him to go in deeper into her collar, making Madara smirk with satisfaction, he did as she wanted. Sakura's breathing was now loud enough for Madara, he felt so accomplished, 

"Please tell me I'm more than just lust." she whimpered.

Madara felt a tear drop fall to his cheek, looking back at her profile, she had been tearing up.

"You're more than that." he went back to her lips, kissing her with delicacy, " You're my motivation, my reason."

Sakura's body felt like it was floating, hearing those words escape Madara's mouth was more than she expected. 

Madara continued to kiss her all over, as he leaned more towards her, now towering her, as both their hands mingled with one another. Sakura didn't know what to make of this situation, or what he was to her, or what they could potentially be, but at the moment she didn't care, she was too focused to elated by his presence, by the fact that he still managed to find her, that he still came back.

Madara eventually found his way to her thigh, gripping it enough to excite her more, and letting him take the upper hand. He was now deep in her neck, swirling his tongue over her exposed skin, as Sakura whimpered satisfied with every touch he gave her. Whenever Madara found a tender spot, Sakura would dig her nails into his back, making his instincts growl with more appetite. He bit the end of his glove, removing it from his hand, allowing him to truly feel her. He slid his hand under her shirt, cupping her left breast, causing her to gasp at the touch of him warm hands, slowly massaging the sensitive area. Sakura had never experienced such an intimate moment like this, her whole life, she never found herself to be curious of another's touch, only cause she was so focused to get some sort of attention from Sasuke. As good as it felt, she began to feel nervous, she's never done something like this, while Madara had a good idea of what to do, she didn't know if she looked stupid or how to even satisfy him. Madara took a quick notice of her moaning halting, she had pondered at the thought of her virgin skin being touched for the first time. 

"Is something the matter?" he questioned, as he made space between them.

"I-I've never really done this..." her visible red cheeks, and avoidance of her eyes, was clear she was embarrassed for being inexperienced at 22. 

"Would you like me to stop, princess?" he murmured, but far more excited that he was the first one to touch her pure skin. 

"N-No..." she spoke softly, finally looking back at his glowing eyes.

"Relax, and let me make you mine." he growled, feeling his member rise, as he felt her shivering body trembled at his every touch. How he loved to be in control, to be completely taking over her beautiful body, and now more that she was so innocent, he'd be able to take it and make it his.

He let go of her breast, as he traveled down to her hip, putting only his fingers under her shorts. Sakura on the other hand, felt her whole body tense up, she had such an urge under her shorts, it was sensitive, she knew her body wanted more, recalling the nights she had some alone time figuring out her body and pleasures she had while touching herself, now here she was with a man who could do everything for her. 

Madara's other hand which still had the glove, made it's way to Sakura's neck, caressing it as he teased her neck a little more, he slowly wrapped his fingers around her neck, wanting to just choke her instantly. But he wanted to be gentle, he didn't want to scare her just yet. His exposed hand, was now traveling lower, without surprising Sakura right away, he could feel her soft skin, rubbing her upper thigh, he groaned at how beautiful her expression was under him, not even did he have to see her curves to cause an erection. 

On the other hand, Sakura was on a cloud, her body was filled with goosebumps, she didn't know it would feel this good to be touched by Madara. When he groaned, her chest filled with fire, for some reason his reaction made her more aroused, something about making this powerful man unable to withhold his breaths had made her feel so proud, so powerful.

"Open your legs." he commanded, as he spoke softly on her ear, not letting go of her neck, now gripping tighter than before. 

Her eyes shot wide open, her heart raising, the way he spoke to her, telling her to do it, made her feel more obligated.. She slowly began to spread herself apart, feeling more exposed and vulnerable to him. Madara was now inches away from her opening, as much as he wanted to finger her right then and there, he had to be patient. He slid his thumb over her clit, immediately making Sakura flinch, she was too sensitive, only making Madara's pride grow bigger and bigger.

"Do you like that?" he hummed, almost to himself.

"Y-Yes." she spoke so softly, making the Uchiha so pleased with himself, he pressed more on her clit, the pressure gave out another twitch, as she gasped, feeling his hand tighten more around her neck. 

Madara hunched over to her breast, still covered with her thin shirt, nibbling over it as he quickened his thumb under her shorts. Sakura was having the time of her life, letting herself close her eyes, as he did as he pleased with her body. Without her full mindset in tact, she lifted her shirt, wanting more of Madara's warm tongue. This action made Madara go mad, as he pressed in deeper to her clit, as he began to suck on her nipples, which were fully erect, just like him. 

"Ma-dara," she whimpered, crying for the pleasure she had been missing for so long.

Her voice saying his name made him groan louder, the vibration of his deep voice could be felt on Sakura's breast, making her legs open more, wanting more. Madara took this as an invitation, as he made his middle finger to the opening of her sex, he could feel how wet she had been.

"How about here?" he growled.

Sakura whimpered at his touch, just over her opening, she was eager to let him in, she looked up to him seeing his eyes roam around her body, feeling so good about herself.

"Please..." she began to beg, something she didn't think she'd ever do in bed, but how he had changed her, how he had suddenly make her crave him more than anything.

Madara couldn't help but smile at how desperate she was for him to touch her. With that plead, he slid his finger in, feeling her wet walls, pulsate against his touch. Still rubbing her clit with his thumb, he began to motion his middle finger in and out of her. This made Sakura's head lift up, as she let out a loud moan, she forgot where she was, all she knew is Madara's fingering was by her the best thing she's ever felt. As Madara took a look at, taking the moment in, memorizing the every detail he saw, the way Sakura was squirming under him, how she moaned his name and enjoyed herself being choked, this was more than satisfying to him, this made him want her even more than just fooling around. He slowly slid another finger in, deciding go faster, to see her orgasm before him and finally accomplish what he wanted, to make her feel amazing. 

Sakura's sex was now covered with her own liquids, spilling out of Madara's hand as he went in rougher, in which he felt her walls tightening more and more. He wasn't sure he would even go fully in her one day with his erection, but the thought of it made him go insane. Pushing in more and more, Sakura began to gasp, feeling something about to explode inside her. Suddenly her whole body arched, as she felt him hit her spot, causing her to orgasm and twitch like crazy, her legs closed back in quick, trying hard not to move so much. Madara's hand stayed still as she was breathing hard, coming back to earth. He slowly removed his hand from under her shorts, feeling every movement of his made Sakura twitch, she was too sensitive for even the slightest touch. Madara licked his fingers, tasting her for the first time, he loved every bit of it and wanted more. Sakura watched as he licked his fingers clean, making her shy away looking at her right side, far from Madara's gaze.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." he smirked, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

Sakura felt her chest rise, seeing how gentle he truly was with her, without thinking she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck, wanting him to stay close to her.

"Don't leave yet." she said quick, knowing he'd just disappear right away.

Madara stayed still letting her touch calm him down, he closed his eyes taking a swift of her, recalling her smell being of her name, cherry blossoms. He gently pressed himself to her, until he was finally laying beside her arms wrapped around each other. Sakura didn't know how to thank him for what he did to her, deciding to kiss his neck, since she couldn't reach to his mouth, his figure was too tall for her, so she just decided to give him cute pecks on his neck. She felt like they were nothing compared to what he'd done, but to him, it felt so great, he stayed there eyes closed treasuring every moment he had with her, only he knew what he wanted from her was more than hooking up, he wanted her to be all his, to escape with her and start a new life somewhere else. but perhaps she'd stay here, and be with that Sasuke she always spoke of, Madara couldn't help but furrow his brows, trying to shake the thought off his head.

"Is everything alright?" she asked, looking at his distressed look.

"I have to go soon." he sighed.

Sakura's heart sank, realizing this dream would soon end.

"No, please stay a little longer." she pleaded, as she leaned her head on his chest.

Madara couldn't deny her request, deciding to stay a little longer, taking it all in before he had to go, one last time, only one last time he could touch her and ever be this close to her again. 


	11. Chapter 11

Sakura woke up, feeling her body fresh and new, for once her head didn't cloud with gloomy thoughts, slowly recalling her night. A pink blush appeared on her cheek, as she put the blanket over her head, squirming in excitement, she had not felt this rush in a long time. More so, she felt so happy, happy that Madara felt the same way ,or so she thought. She stood up, still red covered all over her face, she looked around, hoping that maybe he'd be there, but her heart sank recalling what he said last night...

_I have to go soon..._

She found it strange that he mentioned it, usually he'd just disappear and come back to taunt her once more. As Sakura pondered, her heart sank further down, something wasn't right about this. They never truly established what they felt, and now what if she never could? She closed her eyes, recalling his touch, his smell, his smile, had she really grown to like him more than she thought? 

_You're my motivation, my reason..._

The words made her body trail with goosebumps, how she loved repeating it in her head, but she needed to know if what he said was true. Did he mean it, or did he say that just to get in her pants? She didn't know if either to be happy or upset, right after she fell asleep, he vanished once again, how she hated that more than anything. She was letting him slip and she knew it, she could get the answers if she just wasn't so scared of some sort of rejection, of it hurting. What if he only cared to a certain extent, what if he didn't want to be fully committed like her? Her eyes blurred, she missed him so much, so much her heart ached. Tears streamed down quicker and quicker, feeling her throat tangle, as her nose became runny.

"What do I do?" she whimpered, feeling her tears drip to hands, now shaking uncontrollably. 

_I can't betray my village, my friends.... but I can't let go of him..._

Why was it her, that had to feel this way, why did he pursue her, why did she have to give in?! Her sobbing turned into rage, as she felt her fist tighten, wishing he had never showed up, just when Sasuke had finally looked at her, just when she finally grew confidence, it all came crashing down because of him. Determination filler her head, looking up with dry tears markings on her cheeks, she made her mind up, she will know what he wants, what his true intentions are, and finish what they both started. 

Sakura quickly took a hold of her pouch, putting many supplied as possible, knowing there would be a fight between them, no matter what she wasn't going to let him escape again, not when he had taken some of her purity away, she would have to fight him herself, even if it meant suicide for her. This would really determine if he even cared the slightest for her, she would finally see what his true intentions were.

Without a second to spare, she sneaked out of her room from the window, that way Yamato wouldn't catch her stepping out of the room. Sakura went into full chakra mode, recalling her training, she'd been trying to get better to become a sensor type, wanting to reach her teammates once again. Closing her eyes, with her hand seals in front of her, she stayed calm, collecting all sorts of chakra near her. One thing she had that no one else had, was Madara's scent, she grew to detect it quite well, and was the only one who knew exactly how his chakra felt. Sakura struggled, feeling a drop of sweat roll down her forehead, concentrating her hardest, she could feel herself losing hope, but her mind kept pushing further to know why, why Madara? Why did Madara continue to find her? what was her purpose with him?

A strike of his chakra filled her senses, barely visible enough for her to detect, but without a second thought she dashed her way forward, her eyes full of determination, she sprinted quick, not letting go what was little left of him. As she sped, her heart was bumping fast, she was finally going to know what he truly wanted, what was his true intentions, and end this childish play. As much as she liked it, she knew this was all wrong, and just gave him more power, she was ignorant and ignored all the hints he gave, only wanting to get something out of her, while she risked her village for him. 

Tree after tree, branches and leaves obstructed her view, but she felt his presence closer and closer, ready to see his face again, she quickened her pace so much, her breathing became heavy, not once looking back or stopping for a moment to rest.

Her pupils dilated as the sight of a man appearing by a log of trees, she immediately stopped, causing some of the bark fall from the branch she stood on. 

She stared at him, feeling her lungs about to collapse, now realizing just how fast she had ran, breathing heavily, she took a look at his features. His long black hair still faced her, his figure didn't bother to look over, only but his voice made it clear he knew she was there.

"Hm, I''d figured it be you." he looked up, finally gazing back at the kunoichi, her eyes had rage in them.

"Where are you going?" she protested.

Madara stood quiet, he didn't know exactly where, but he knew it had to be somewhere far, he was already a wanted ninja among these areas, he couldn't afford to get caught now.

Sakura jumped down, now leveling herself to him, she got closer, her fist full of chakra, ready to release it all on him. 

"Why the angry face?" Madara joked, hoping she'd go along with it.

Sakura's fist quickly went straight for his face, but at the last second Madara took a hold of it, now with eyes full of wrath, his demeanor changed, realizing neither of them were a good mood anymore. 

"What are you doing?" his voice rumbled through the woods, as his figure stood tall, his expression was now full of anger and confusion, making Sakura freeze in her place.

Her brows furrowed, keeping herself intact, she couldn't back down anymore.

"Just when you finally got what you wanted, you decide to leave for good?" she snapped back.

Madara studied her face, recalling last night, how she was the complete opposite, how she was fully vulnerable to him, now she had the audacity to act so privileged to him.

"Got what I wanted?" he growled, feeling his hand tightened Sakura's fist, "What the fuck did I get out of it?!"

Sakura yanked her hand away from Madara, she could now sense he was furious, he had never yelled at her like that, the insults he made did nothing like this did, her chest felt hollow as her throat dried, seeing the atmosphere change around them. 

"I didn't force you on anything, I didn't fuck you! Or did the princess want more? Was she not satisfied enough?!" Madara was no longer yelling at her, but at the world, at himself.

"All you wanted was your fucking answers, you didn't think how this affected me! But you! How would your precious Sasuke react once he knows I fingered fucked you?! How would the village take it once they knew YOU kept me a secret?! But the second I finally decide to leave, you have the fucking nerve to tell me why I'm leaving? You call me prideful yet you've not said a single word to me, while I told you I wanted you, when I said I needed you! If anything, I'm the fucking whore here, while I let you make your way back to Sasuke! Go, you're free to finish yourself off with him, I'm not waiting anymore. " Madara felt his lungs with fire, seeing Sakura's reaction, who was unable to speak.

Sakura stood quiet, feeling tears trail down her face.

"That's not true, you don't know anything about-" 

"I don't want to know anything about you." he interrupted, picking up a bag of supplies for himself. "Go back where you came from."

The words stabbed her over and over, tormenting her, she wanted to get rid of the suffering he caused, but it all hurt too much. Madara faced away, stepping further away from her. Sakura stared as he slipped from her hands, she was still but her body felt like it was being sucked in a black hole, an insufferable hole she would forever stay in, as Madara cared less to reach her.

"No-, wait!" Sakura pleaded, feeling her cries become more visible, but she didn't care anymore, she didn't want him to leave. 

"I can't stay here any longer, don't you get it, stupid girl."

Sakura recalled the number of times he had called her that, but never did it sting like this, never did she think he meant it, creating a wound in her heart she couldn't heal. Why was he saying all these things, why was he hurting her so much now!? Now when she thought there could be more, now when it felt unbearable without him.

A sudden flash of darkness appeared in front of Sakura, feeling Madara's blade go right through her heart, her body was unable to move, as she stood there, tears falling, landing on the dirt underneath them, Sakura's mind went blank, with Madara being her last thought.

\----------

Madara created a genjutsu, causing her to faint, he managed to catch her, slowly laying her down on the ground. He felt guilt run through his veins, he didn't want to hurt her, but he knew she wouldn't let him go without a struggle. He knew all to well, Sakura had her life planned out, she had something going for her back at the village, he was nothing but a distraction now. Never in his life did he see anyone above him, but now stood Sakura, as he struggled to understand just how it would feel to be loved by her. Madara stood up fighting his urge to stay with the pink haired woman, but with that he vanished in a blink of an eye, not looking back to his desire, this weakness he never knew he had.


	12. Chapter 12

"Sakura..." 

Her eyes fluttered at the sound of a familiar male voice. As she focused, her surroundings seemed to bring her comfort, it was her room she'd been staying. She felt the soft sheets pressed against her cheek, and her vision became sharper.

"Are you alright?"

She look upward, catching Yamato's almond eyes, his eyebrows furrowed with concern.

"W-What happened...?" She felt a pounding in her head, recalling the last moments before she shut her eyes.

Her eyes shot open, recalling every detail.

<

_Madara..._

She stared at Yamato, who was still with a look of concern, she gave a nervous laugh, assuming Madara had left her close where he'd find her. 

"I must of slipped and hit my head when I was practicing my shuriken."

"Sakura, I know." Yamato interrupted her lie.

She felt her heart sink, seeing the disappointed look was not because she was found unconscious, but because Yamato knew she was a traitor to the village, to herself. 

"I-"

Yamato sighed, as he got up from the chair he had been sitting on, waiting for Sakura's awakening. He paced around the room, as if finding words to compose his thoughts. 

"I saw everything." he finally spoke.

Sakura stayed quiet, she was caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"I don't know what happened between you two, but I know it's affecting you a lot. I know you didn't want to come here for a vacation or a little break, you wanted to have time to talk to Madara." He started, "As soon as you fainted, he left you there, and sprinted away. I couldn't bring myself to follow him because of what I overheard."

"What did you hear?" Sakura spoke softly, as a tear escaped her.

"Everything." he replied.

Sakura put her hands over her face, sighing, feeling an ache in her heart she was already used to.

"Are you two... in love?"

Sakura quickly removed her hands from her face, feeling a flush of warmth around her cheeks.

"Not exactly in love, it's more like a confusing relationship..." 

"I don't understand, how is it that you and Madara got to this point?"

Sakura sighed, feeling embarrassed. 

"If I tell you, can you promise me you will have an open mind, and hear everything I have to say?" Sakura felt her voice get raspy, from trying so hard not to cry in front of her once captain.

"I let Madara leave, how more open minded can I get." he laughed tiredly, feeling the density of the room. 

For the next 4 hours, Sakura explained the details she had with Madara, how she felt, what happened from the second she found him to the last encounter they had. She kept emphasizing the change of heart he had, and how different he has become from the travel, how she began to fall for him all because he was an Uchiha, now she was tied between the loyalty of Konoha, and what she felt for him. Yamato listened intently, understanding his best of the situation, hoping to find a solution to this love affair they have unknowingly created. 

"I feel so dumb, all because I let my feeling, my personal issues become involved with a manipulative bitch such as him."

"I wanted to tell you why I let him go." he finally spoke. "When he created the genjutsu, he was very careful of leaving you there, and he knew I was there, he stared right into my eyes, and for a moment I feared for my life, but instead, he left, with a saddened look, like he knew I would be able to take you back here. In that moment, my instincts told me to wait until you awakened, and I'm kind of glad I listened to my gut. Perhaps this crazy relationship you got going on with Madara, might help us change him."

"He won't change, he's the most stubborn man I've ever come across, not even Sasuke's demeanor compare to his."

"You made a stubborn man not kill everyone because of his biggest belief, even if he was at first thinking of going against you, he has yet to truly do anything. He could of killed me in that instant, and slowly made his way to his plans, after all I have the first's DNA. he could already be doing more on his infinite Tsukuyomi."

"But, he's just... he left me alone last night, saying he couldn't be here, that our differences were too much."

"Fair point, but I'll be honest with you Sakura, I'm not trying to be a match maker, I want to reel him in, perhaps fool him."

"Oh..." Sakura's heart ached, realizing Yamato wasn't going to get her away with this lover affair, clearly he was putting it aside for the meantime.

"I understand how you feel but, it's best you discuss this with him once we capture him, I'm sorry Sakura but I just won't let him roam out there, knowing we could be doing something right now. I can excuse you since, you've been charmed, but maybe we can trick him by using you."

"Yamato, I'm not like that..."

"I understand bit for the meantime we just need to capture him."

Yamato leaves the room, leaving Sakura confused pondering of his motives. It's clear she can indeed convince him to be captured, but the trust Madara has for her, will never be the same after this. Will Yamato tell Kakashi? What does he think of her now, a traitor?!

The rest of the day she laid there, wondering, the endless thoughts and consequences she could get in, she would most likely be in probation or locked up from keeping him a secret. Does Yamato really want to fool Madara like that? 

_Of course he's an enemy!!_

A sudden knock alarmed her, but by just the knock itself she could tell it was Yamato on the other side. 

"Come in..."

"Sakura..." Yamato came in, with a his bag and things ready. "We should track him, before he leaves further away for good."

"Before we go, I need to know what you think of all this, if you still trust me as a teammate."

Yamato stood quiet looking at Sakura, it seemed she had been crying and laying down all day.

"Sakura, I don't think any less of you, I understand feelings got involved, and you wouldn't betray the village. things just got complicated..." He smiled, that old smile he's always had.

Sakura's chest had finally relaxed, all day she had tension all over her body, wondering if she was indeed a traitor. 

"Thank you..."

"Let's go, we don't have much time, if we go now, I think I am able to catch some of his chakra scent where he was last at."

Sakura quickly got up and got her things ready, not losing a second, as she got ready she began to feel a guilt creep in her yet again, would she have to betray Madara's trust then?

No, I can try and convince him, I need to keep trying no matter what!


	13. Chapter 13

Yamato and Sakura leaped through the forest, sensing their chakra around the area, Yamato had made Sakura lead since she was the one who knew best his chakra.

"I'm losing him Captain Yamato..."

"Damn it." he sighed, feeling his energy drain, they'd been running since the morning and the sun was already going down.

"Let's stop here." he ordered, allowing both of them to reach a thick enough branch to support them.

"But, we'll lose him." Sakura kept catching her breath, as she bended down, rested her hands on her knees.

"Yea but going like this, wont do the trick, I'd say take an hour break and we'll get back at it." He sat down, finally relaxing. "Before he left, I made a wood clone to follow him, and he hasn't come back yet, I'm sure he's still tailing him." 

"Right."

As they saw the sun setting, and the sky bringing a dark blanket over them, Sakura was too caught up in her head.

How on earth did she plan to convince Madara to be under Konoha's orders ? Clearly from the start he made a fool out of herself, thinking he'd have a change in heart, but of course he was no flimsy man, his morals and beliefs were set in stone. Could she perhaps do the same as before?, Hitting one or two of his limbs and forcing him to surrender, but then she was lucky she even found him in such a vulnerable state. She looked over to Yamato who had been looking out, she now had him as well, that could be a great step up from before, yet again, he was able to fight most skilled anbu without a single track of him. The only thing she could think of is Naruto or Sasuke being strong enough to stop him, but they would have to know about her and Madara.

She sighed, resting her face on her knees supporting her head, as she hugged her legs.

_'You are my motivation... my reason.'_

If I was your reason, why did you leave? If I motivated you why couldn't you stay and figure something out, why can't you just let go of the past!

"Because he is the past..."

"Huh, did you say something?" Yamato looked over as Sakura, who was now whispering herself.

"Yamato that's it! We need to change him now!"

"I'm not quite getting what you're talking about Sakura."

Sakura got up as she saw her thoughts mingling together, creating new ideas and perhaps new future, with him!

"That's his past self, he is currently still feeling hate for Hashirama, correct? Perhaps if we see what Hashirama meant, what truly made Madara realize they were both on each others side to begin with."

"Such as convincing him? Didn't you say that wouldn't work... I was thinking more of getting his attention by you..."

"More like a whole change, intel can create a genjutsu where he can see that Hashirama was on his side the whole time, that he indeed wanted him to be Hokage! See all the chaos and disaster after his dream became a reality, what happened to him."

"It's hard to do that when only you, Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi were there..." he got up and got closer to her, "Unless Sasuke puts him in a genjutsu!"

"Sasuke..." Sakura's ideas of finally helping Madara to be part of Konoha went to a halt, Sasuke... her crush since she was a child, now had to face Madara. If he could show Madara everything, what would happen to him, would there still be a thing between them, or would she still be able to mingle with Sasuke. 

"Sakura, you're right, we just need to capture him, and what better way then to get Sasuke to help, as soon as he captures him he can immediately put him in a genjutsu that will only last a second, convincing him and bringing him to Konoha."

Sakura had a worried look, but nodded immediately, trying her hardest for him not to notice her worrisome thoughts.

She felt selfish and even disloyal to Sasuke, the situation was to capture Madara, but she was thinking far beyond that, almost as if she wanted a life with him. What of Sasuke? She couldn't just be with two, and out of anyone in the world, Sasuke would be the last to excuse her for having feelings for the enemy. 

"Sakura are you ready?" Yamato snapped her back from the endless new thoughts roaming her head.

"We are leaving already?" she got up, confused.

"Yea, my clone just disappeared, and it was fighting Madara, he found out of our whereabouts and we need to get there quick before he leaves."

Sakura's skin created goosebumps all over, as she had a bit of joy knowing he was still alive and doing well, too well to kill one of Yamato's clones. 

"Before we go, I need you to send a message to Sasuke to come to the West, near the stone village." 

"Y-yes, got it!" Sakura immediately took out her scroll, writing down their location and about Madara, her palms felt sweaty as she continued to write slowly. This is it, Sasuke would know and he'd be here as soon as he got the message. 

Quickly she summoned his hawk messenger, tying the note around his leg.

"Garuda, please send this message to Sasuke as soon as possible!"

The hawk immediately flew away, signaling Yamato and Sakura to dash their way to Madara.

As they ran faster then their first time, Sakura's heart began to beat fast as well, a sudden flash back of all her memories with Madara came across her. Those memories would be the last moments of peacefulness with him, even if it meant him hating her for it, she knew this was the only way she could really save Madara from his darkness.

All they really had was Sasuke's convincing, maybe he'd become part of the village, and be a whole new Madara, he couldn't go to prison, she can assure Naruto or Kakashi would understand that he is not that Madara, he's a completely new and different one. One that hasn't started any hate, any sort of plan to destroy them, even though she had barely met him and got close enough to him, something in her heart had convinced herself he was being changed slowly and steadily, they can created a whole new Madara with a change of heart. Even if that meant only being friends or even acquaintances, she prefer that then seeing him become a villain yet again.

"We are getting close get ready to fight Sakura!"

"Yamato wait, what if I try to talk to him first!"

Yamato stayed quiet, looking straight ahead thinking of what to do, as much as he wanted to try and surprise attack him, Sakura could also very much distract him, even for a moment. 

"Alright, but I'm only giving you 5 minutes, if he doesn't seem to have a change in heart, we'll have to use force."

"Force, huh?" A sudden deep voice startled them both, causing Sakura to misstep, Yamato quickly created a clone and push her up from her fall.

"Madara!" Sakura gasped, as she got back on a tree, now looking behind her, staring right into Madara's eyes.

"What force can you two possibly have against me?" His voice made Sakura's breath shortened. 

"Hold on, you need to listen to me."

"I thought he would convince you to keep away from me, but I guess you just couldn't resist me."

"Sakura, I don't think this will work..." Yamato yelled a few feet away from them.

Madara took a quick dash towards Sakura with a kunai, taunting the poor ninja, forgetting she too could withstand him. Yamato made a quick shield with his wood style, allowing Sakura to react and move back further from Madara.

" Sakura snap out of it! He's not hesitating to kill you!"

"Madara please, just listen to me, this doesn't have to be this way."

"Be what, a lying bitch who can't keep her mouth shut?! I gave you a chance to stay away from me and live your life, but you continue to pester me, I have nothing left but to get rid of you for good."

He continued to run towards Sakura, who was now becoming more aware of the situation, his sudden change or heart scared her, was he this easily to change? No less then a day, was he caressing her and holding her so gently, now he had full intent to kill her. Her eyes began to tear up seeing the exact thing she didn't want to see, Madara slowly becoming his other self, the one that thought nothing of others but himself.

"What the fuck is the matter with you!?" she yelled at the top of her lungs, finally taking out her kunai deflecting one of the shuriken thrown to her by him, "You can't just change your mind like that, try and kill me like that?! After all we've been though!!"

"And what exactly was that, you forcing me to stick with you because I was weak? Now, now doesn't feel good having the short end of the stick." 

A sudden clone of Madara appears behind Yamato, swinging his susanoo weapon, already in action, Madara was already getting stronger by the second. As Sakura fought the original Madara, Yamato had his hands busy on the clone. 

"We didn't go through shit, all you did is put me in your Sasuke fantasies to do things to you he wouldn't even dare do!!"

As he spoke the hits got stronger and stronger, as if the reminder and thoughts made him realize Sakura only really saw Sasuke as her lover.

"You think I didn't notice how infatuated you were with him! How many times I knew you wouldn't bash an eye on me if it weren't for my tainted name?!?" 

A sudden rip of Sakura's shirt was heard, she felt the cold sharp end of the kunai impale her skin, feeling the flesh open more and more, right above her hip.

"AAH!" Sakura gasped.

"Sakura!!!!" Yamato yelled distracting him from his battle, causing the Madara clone to bash him to a tree, causing a hit to the floor.

"People like you disgust me," he spat on her face, that was now inches away from hers. "You want me for your own selfish desires, at least I think of others as well, at least I ran off to protect you, at least my former self would have known you all are the same selfish people, this is why we need a better world, a better peace where you get me and your precious Sasuke, and I'll get you all to my fucking self!"

Sakura's eyes began to close as she felt the warm blood run doing her stomach to her legs, why did she feel so dizzy, she had been stabbed like this but could recover from it, did he add poison?

"Your perfect world, will never be fit mine, Sakura." His last words sounded so far away, so calm and sad, but so painfully true.

_Madara..._

_You became what the last thing I wanted you to be, and it was all because of me._


	14. Chapter 14

Sakura's emerald eyes shot open hearing a loud bang to her left, she slowly focuses on the grass and dirt under her, as she sees her blood pouring out her stomach. What happened? Why did everything feel so lost, so wobbly, as if the world was spinning too fast?

_

Before Madara could finish off Yamato, a kunai suddenly penetrating through Madara's arm, looking up and seeing the Sasuke everyone kept mentioning to him. A punch was felt under Madara, as a clone of Sasuke's uppercut him, causing Madara to heat up, his heart began to race faster, feeling that rush he once had with Hashirama. 

"Yes, finally someone worth my time!" he yelled with eyes of a mad man, "C'mon Sasuke, show me what you got! Show me what's so great about you!!" 

Sasuke studied his expressions now becoming more cynical and lunatic, looking towards a lower elevation seeing Sakura slowly get up from her hit. Immediately he created a Susanoo around her, as he dashed faster towards Madara.

"Ah, yes a Susanoo, this will be a great brawl!" Madara growled, as the aura around him began to glow blue, a rage grew in his heart, excited to see what this Uchiha had in store for him. Not only was he about to brawl with an Uchiha, this particular one looked just like his brother Izuna, it ached him that he had to ignore the strong resemblance.

Sasuke dashed at Madara full force, a loud clash was heard all around the forest, as a gust of pure force was felt a mile radius away from them. Madara was in shock of the power this young Uchiha had, even though he was the enemy, he still felt a strong pride, this was the true Uchiha power, even after years, only but another of his kind could defeat him. Sasuke was going easy on him, since Madara was nothing compared to how he was during the war, he had also taken to consideration of Naruto's plan. Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke had discussed what would be the best thing to do with Madara when Sasuke got to the village. Of course Sasuke was more willing to get rid of him, Naruto wanted to see if he could perhaps see the different views and the new peace they had created. Kakashi on the other hand, wanted to take him to intel and figure out how yet another trick could slip under Konoha's wathful eye. At the end of the meeting they decided to bring him back to Konoha and keep him caged up until more research could be done on him. 

Madara threw a huge fire ball, making Sasuke dash further away from Yamato and Sakura. Yamato was unconscious while Sakura was resting close to a tree, she seemed out of it, looking down at her wound confused. Sasuke could tell she was losing a lot of blood and had to snap her out of it. 

Sakura could feel the cloak of chakra around her, as a purple filter was surrounding her. She looked up noticing Madara and Sasuke battling, a sudden pain was felt in her abdomen, her muscles were tense, a rush of adrenaline went through her body, as she looked down witnessing the blood pouring out her stomach. Madara had penetrated deep enough to lose blood this quickly, she finally took a hold of herself and began to heal. She looked around for Yamato, she had to get out of there quick before they did anything more flashy and hurt them in the process. Even though she noticed Sasuke's Susanoo had been around her the whole time, she couldn't depend on him to take care of them, he was busy stopping Madara. 

Without realizing it, Sakura felt her tears drop down to her hands that were healing her stomach,

This is no time to cry, please get up... do something.

She felt her muscles ache as she forced her way up, looking around her surroundings she saw Yamato laying there, it seemed he had blood coming out of his head, she quickly went to his aid.

"Sakura, get out of here with Yamato." Sasuke made a clone to go with them, "I'll stall him."

"Sasuke, what are you going to do to him?" She asked concerned.

"Naruto and Kakashi want to keep him in Konoha, I'm measuring his abilities to see just how much restriction we need for him."

"Yamato and I were thinking, maybe you can put him in a genjutsu where he can see what really happened, including when he had talked to Hashirama, I tried talking to him but..." Sakura's throat closed up feeling an ache, she felt like she wanted to throw up as her eyes started watering.

" Go Sakura, I'll deal with him." 

Sakura no longer spoke, quickly dashing away further from the battle. She could both Susanoo's radiant glow not too far, as trees and the land itself moving around from all the destruction. She could still feel blood coming out her wound but it matter little to her, her mind was so caught up, with if Madara spoke about their interactions, what would Sasuke think of her? She shut her eyes tight, feeling the ache soon to come, once he knows what happened between Madara and her. Would he find her disloyal, a disgusting whore who couldn't keep away from even the enemy?

"Sakura..." Yamato's raspy voice had brought Sakura back to reality.

"Yamato, are you okay?!" she quickly responded,

"I'm fine, it seems I just hit my head pretty hard, where is Madara?"

"Sasuke got here just in time, don't worry, We are going further away, so we don't get in the way."

"Sakura, I think I can run myself."

Sakura took a moment to stop, Yamato had been leaning on Sakura's shoulder for support, he noticed her shirt covered with blood.

"Your wound is still bleeding."

Sakura looked down, not realizing just much blood she had lost, immediately going back to healing herself.

"Don;t worry about me Captain Yamato, I'm more concerned about Sasuke and Madara."

Yamato looked at her worried look, he could tell exactly what was going through her mind.

"Did you tell him?"

"I...couldn't bring myself to do it..." She looked down ashamed.

"As soon as Madara tells him, Sasuke will know, and you'll be involved more, what do you plan to do?"

"I know Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi wouldn't doubt my loyalty to Konoha, but..." Sakura couldn't believe she was saying this out loud, "my loyalty with Sasuke would be ruined."

Yamato was concerned for her, he understood the complicated feeling between her and those two, but they both knew she couldn't mingle with both, especially when one is considered a terrorist. 

"We can discuss this later, for now let's send a report to Kakashi about the whereabouts of Madara.

_

Madara grew tired of the perfect blocks and defense Sasuke had, he felt as if he was truly battling Hashirama, no one else could overthrow him besides his old comrade, but now he felt angry, embarrassed he couldn't even cause crack on Sasuke's Susanoo. Could it be because he looked like his brother, or because he was his blood and couldn't bare to kill his own.

"Your moves are slowing down, have you had enough?"

"Just what the hell are you, I can't believe you can withstand my full Susanoo!" Madara and Sasuke had been fighting for quite some time, and not once was he able to really hit him.

"Madara, I have a request.," Sasuke spoke, "come back to Konoha under my orders and we can stop this nonsense."

"Ha! As if I'd be go back under your wing, i'd rather die fighting!" Madara spat back, almost as if foam was coming out of his mouth from full rage.

"Fine, then." Sasuke closed his eyes, thinking about what Sakura had told him, but he had to get near him enough to see his eyes, and catch him off guard. Even though he wasn't the strongest, Madara did not let Sasuke get anywhere near him, they both knew all too well that close combat would end the battle quickly, Uchiha were known for their incredible close range. As they had been fighting Sasuke was warming up his Rinnegan, allowing himself to transport himself inside Madara's Susanoo and surprise him with a genjutsu.

He did his best not to let Madara notice, since he knew about it as well.

"I'll let you experience just exactly what happened." Sasuke immediately transported himself into the shield of the blue Susanoo from Madara's side, he was not inches way from his face, as Madara's expression was shocked, this allowed Sasuke to get in his mind and created a genjutsu.

The genjutsu started off from the construction of Konoha, where Madara had front row seat to seeing the disaster he once created. Immediate denial was expected from Madara, but Sasuke continued allowing him to see how it all unfolded.

In reality, it took only a second for Madara to realize what had really happened, but in his dead, it felt like hours of his life passing before him.

"Now Madara, tell me what do you decide, continue this useless fight, or come back to Konoha?"


End file.
